The Pack of the West
by lyiint
Summary: One child starts it all. This story contains Yaoi in some chapters Sess X Mir Rated M to R
1. Chapter 1

THE PACK OF THE WEST

Disclaimer: I have not, do not or will not own Inuyasha. This disclaimer holds for the entirety of this

Story. This story contains Yaoi in some chapters - SessXMir

Chapter 1: Foundling

Miroku was walking from the small village he had stopped at to exorcise a small ferret demon that had been scaring the villagers with a big smile and a pocketful of money. Inuyasha, Kagome, Sango and Shippo had decided to continue on to Kaede's, knowing that Miroku could handle the annoying demon. Kagome had to go home for a few days for examinations and everyone decided they needed a bit of a rest from chasing shards and trying to find Naraku.

It was an absolutely beautiful day with the sun shining brightly and Miroku was humming a song as he walked along swinging his staff, the rings jangling in time with his tune. He walked down a side path from the road to where he knew a small brook with a little pond was to get a drink of the cool water. As he approached the water, he heard some men arguing and an infant crying.

"Throw it in, it's worthless."

"It's just an infant, what harm can it do?"

"We have a hard enough time to feed our own, why waste good food on this abomination."

"Well if you're not going to do it, I will!"

Miroku appeared just in time to see a small bag hit the water and start to sink, the men, seeing the monk, ran back to the road. He could hear crying and it was definitely coming from the bag in the pond. He threw off his sandals and jumped in, swimming strong to reach where the bag had just disappeared under the water. Dunking under and reaching with his arm he grabbed the top of the tied bag, pulling it quickly up into the air. Whatever was in the bag was coughing, crying and sputtering as Miroku swam back to shore. He dragged himself up onto the bank and untying the bag reached in and pulled out a squalling demon infant.

She had short wavy silver grey hair, a little fluffy tail of the same color, small cute pointed ears on the side of her head, and tiny little claws on the end of her hands which were fisted tight as she continued to wail loudly.

Miroku was so angry, _how could they do such a thing, she's just a baby, how could they say she is worthless and an abomination then just throw her away like garbage._ He just couldn't get over it but he knew from his travels, dealing with both demons and humans that humans could, at times, be extremely cruel.

"Hush baby, Miroku is here, I won't let anyone hurt you" he said trying to comfort the little girl.

She quieted her crying to just little hitching sobs and opened her eyes to look up to her saviour. Miroku was astonished at the color of her eyes; the left one was golden, almost the same shade as Inuyasha's, the right a pale icy blue. _How unusual _he thought, _but so pretty_.

Miroku figured the child to be no more than a few days old and most likely a wolf cub. He began to look around to see if her mother was nearby. _Perhaps the men frightened the mother, maybe she's hiding._ He wandered around the pond calling out but no one answered and he could sense no demon aura other than the babies.

"Well it looks like you're on your own" he said looking down as the tiny bundle in his arms gazed up to him with a look of trust and innocence.

She began to shiver and whimper so Miroku drew off the purple sash that was around his monks robe and wrapped the wet child in it. "We'll head back to my village ok?" he asked the pup smiling down at her. He was rewarded with a heart melting smile from her.

Miroku tucked the wrapped babe inside his robes to keep her warm, he felt her little hand grab his finger and hold on tight. He started to hum his song again as he continued back to the road, when he looked a few minutes later, she was sound asleep but her grip had not loosened.

As he approached Kaede's, Kagome was just getting ready to leave to head to the well.

"You can only stay two days!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Inuyasha, its going to be at least four!" she yelled back her eyebrows twitching like mad.

Miroku could tell as he came closer that Inuyasha was going to be eating dirt in a very few seconds. It was then that the little bundle against his chest began to cry; she pulled his finger into her mouth and sucked hard, nipping down with her tiny fangs. When no milk was forth coming she really began to wail which caught the attention of Inuyasha and Kagome.

"What's that noise" asked Inuyasha curiously sniffing the air.

Miroku brought out the crying infant and showed her to Inuyasha and Kagome.

"Oh, she's so sweet" cried Kagome her eyes going large and sparkly "Where did she come from?"

"I saved her, some men had thrown her in the pond" Miroku told them angrily. Inuyasha looked on in disbelief and then anger at the thought of the men trying to drown her.

"Oh, the poor little thing" Kagome said sadly. "And she's hungry. We've got to get her some milk, here, let me take her."

Kagome reached out her arms to take the infant from Miroku who was holding the child out to her. The small pup looked to Kagome then to Miroku and with her little arms stretched out towards Miroku began to absolutely scream.

"Guess she doesn't want to leave me" said Miroku a bit surprised at the reaction the child was having. He tucked her back in close to his body and she immediately quieted her screams to small whimpers. He bounced her up and down looking at his two friends not knowing what to say.

"She's frightened" said Kagome, "I'll go see if we can get something for milk so you can feed her." With that she quickly ran into Kaede's to see what could be done.

"Where's her family?" questioned Inuyasha, "She has to be someone's pup."

"I don't know, the men took off when they saw me, I don't even know in which direction they went."

"She looks like a wolf cub, maybe Kouga would know." As much as Inuyasha hated to ask the wolf prince anything, he figured that they would have the best chance to find her family from him.

"We should go tomorrow and talk to him." He was now glad that Kagome would be going home. _At least that mangy wolf can't hang all over her if she's not there _Inuyasha thought with satisfaction.

Kagome reappeared with Sango and Shippo in tow; they too wanted to see the tiny orphan. She had a small oilskin bag that Kaede had filled with milk, putting a tiny hole in a corner of it to allow the child to drink and a small square of cloth to use as a diaper. Kaede was at the doorway, "bring the child in so she can eat and get dry." Miroku took the items that Kagome handed to him and walked in, everyone but Inuyasha and Kagome following.

"I'm going to go home to do my tests and I'll bring some things back for the baby" she said as she and Inuyasha walked off towards the path to the well.

"Ok" replied Miroku as Sango pulled him into the hut so she could help with the baby.

Shippo distracted the pup with his wooden snake toy just long enough for Miroku to put her down and Sango to put the diaper on with a hole in it to accommodate her tail. He shook it in front of her eyes which sparkled with happiness at the rattling sound it made, reaching her hands up and gurgling at it. When Sango finished, Miroku picked the girl up and put the skein to her mouth. She sucked greedily, gripping the bag with her hands and sighing with contentment.

"What a terrible thing to happen to such a sweet baby" said Sango after hearing the story from Miroku.

"Why did they do that Miroku?" asked Shippo. He was confused as to why the men would try to drown her; he had only met nice people and in his innocence did not know any better.

"I don't know Shippo. Sometimes men can do bad things."

"We should give her a name" Shippo said excitedly after giving what Miroku had said some thought.

"I guess she can't go around just being called baby or pup" agreed Miroku.

The three of them tossed out name after name trying to find one they could all agree with as the tiny pup drank her milk in Miroku's arms. When Sango suggested Yumi, the baby looked at her with her odd colored eyes and giggled.

"Guess she likes it" said Shippo sniffing her baby scent. He got too close and Sango had to untangle Yumi's fingers from Shippo's hair.

"Yumi it is then" laughed Miroku.


	2. Unwanted

Chapter 2: Unwanted 

Not long after Miroku had put the baby down on his futon for a nap, Inuyasha appeared in the hut.

"How is she" he asked.

"Remarkably good" answered Miroku "especially seeing all she's been though"

"Demon pups are strong, she'll be ok." Inuyasha looked over to his friend who was watching the sleeping child with a small smile on his face. "I've been thinking we should go see Kouga and ask him about her."

"Kouga?" questioned Miroku "Why do you think he'd know anything?"

"It's plain to see she's a wolf pup, maybe she's even from his pack"

"Oh" replied Miroku. He was trying not to show his disappointment. He had started to get quite attached to Yumi and was hoping to keep her.

"She should be with her own family" said Inuyasha noticing that Miroku got quiet.

"Yes, you're right. I know that but…"

"But nothing, we can't keep her, how will we care for an infant while we're chasing after Naraku." For once Inuyasha was being totally logical and it surprised Miroku.

"When do you want to go?" Miroku asked conceding the point.

"We'll leave tomorrow, Kagome won't be back for a few days and it will give us time enough to go and get back again before she returns."

Inuyasha and Miroku spent the rest of the day relaxing and chatting together. They all played with Yumi when she awoke, Shippo showing her all his toys and tricks which she found entertaining, laughing and gurgling in glee at his fox fire and she was not upset as long as Miroku was near. She enjoyed pulling on Inuyasha's long hair, giggling wildly when he yelped and tried to pry her fingers off. She even allowed Sango to burp her but she kept her eyes locked on Miroku, only giving a little cry when he disappeared from her line of sight for a moment.

Inuyasha was a bit worried about this. _She's really bonding with him, the sooner we find her parents the better._

That night as everyone settled down to sleep, Shippo tucked in with Sango, Inuyasha resting against the wall holding the Tetsaiga, Miroku snuggled Yumi close to him and breathing in her scent, fell asleep.

The next day as they entered Kouga's territory, said wolf demon appeared whirling out of the tornado he made as he ran. "I thought I smelled mutt" he said adding "Where's Kagome, nothing happened to her did it?"

"What do you think asshole? Kagome's just gone home for awhile, she didn't want to see your mangy face" retorted Inuyasha growling low in his throat.

"She likely just wanted to get away from you" growled back Kouga

Sango interrupted at this point sighing "Inuyasha, have you forgotten why we came her in the first place?"

Inuyasha gave one more growl and then taking a deep breath said "Look, Miroku found this wolf pup we wanted to know if she belongs with your pack."

This peeked Kouga's curiosity, as far as he knew, no females in his pack had whelped. "Show her to me" he said.

Miroku held out Yumi who looked at Kouga quietly. Kouga stared back and said "She's a half breed. She's not from my pack."

Inuyasha saw red at the term Kouga had just used "What do you mean she's a half breed? She looks full demon to me" he said gritting his teeth and clenching his fists so he wouldn't strangle the wolf demon.

"She is full demon but she's only half wolf, no pure blood wolves have eyes like hers. Like I said, a half breed."

"Kouga, if Kagome heard you say that she'd be very upset" rebuked an angry Sango.

Miroku had hugged the child close to him anger showing clearly on his face.

"Hey, I didn't say it was bad or anything" said Kouga throwing up his hands in supplication "I just mean, she's not from my pack, I don't know where she would be from."

"What do you think the other half of her is?" Sango asked thinking maybe they could find her parents that way.

Kouga just shrugged his shoulders, "Can't tell by looking, I'd have to smell her"

Miroku did not want Kouga to get close to her after the insult he had glibly thrown out at Yumi and, indirectly, at Inuyasha.

"I'll smell her" said an aggravated Inuyasha, _I can tell just as well as that stupid mangy jerk of a wolf_ Inuyasha thought sourly, his feelings hurt at the word Kouga had used. He would never admit it to anyone, not even Kagome, but that word left him feeling small and unworthy, just like when he was a small boy and he had decided right then and there that he didn't want Yumi to feel that way ever. "Come on guys, we don't need this mangy wolf to help us"

"Suit yourselves" said Kouga testily as he ran off in a whirl of wind.

Inuyasha went to Miroku's side and, holding his hair out of the way of small hands, gently sniffed her all over. He smelt the wild strong scent of wolf with something else, something familiar. He sniffed her again, deeper, as she giggled, trying to grab his nose. "Hey you" he said smiling, "give me a break." Then it hit him. _Dog demon, that's inu scent_.

He didn't know of any other dog demons other than his brother and himself although he was sure there must be more. He knew the child wasn't his and he was positive she couldn't be his brothers, so there must be another out there somewhere, maybe looking for her. "She has inu smell, she must be part dog demon" he told Sango and Miroku as they all headed back out to the main road.

"She's not yours is she?" joked Miroku. This just earned him a nasty stare from Inuyasha.

"Doesn't seem like anyone wants her" said Inuyasha thinking back on his own childhood and now feeling guilty for telling Miroku they couldn't keep her. He looked at the small child who reached up trying to grab his hair and smiled. _It wouldn't be so bad to have another kid around_ he thought looking into her pretty eyes.

"Let's head back to where you found her when Kagome gets back, maybe Inuyasha can pick up a scent from there" Sango said interrupting Inuyasha's thoughts.

They all agreed and went back to the village to wait for Kagome to join them.


	3. Bonding

Chapter 3: Bonding

During the two days they waited for Kagome, Miroku and Yumi became more and more attached. Now, not only did Yumi cry if she couldn't see him, which had been par for the course since he brought her to the village, but Miroku himself got very edgy if anyone wanted to touch or hold her. He hid it very well but not well enough from Inuyasha.

_Damn, those two are getting way too attached. It's going to be harder to give her back to her own people. If this keeps up she won't want to leave him._ Inuyasha had to think of something to stop, what he knew was bonding between parent and child.

Because she was so young when taken from her parents, she hadn't had time to complete the bond and had latched herself onto Miroku who had become her primary caretaker. This was a common occurrence with demons and he knew humans had similar bonding experiences with their children but the effect was not as strong. He decided the two of them needed a break from each other, at least for a short time, so the bond could weaken. With that in mind, he walked over to where Miroku was sitting on a blanket on the grass watching Yumi as she tried to crawl around. He stopped in front of his friend, "Why don't you let me sit with her for awhile, you could use a break, go see Sango or something."

"No that's ok. Sango went with Kaede anyways to the village to buy some supplies." Miroku answered cheerfully.

Inuyasha watched Miroku a bit longer than said "Sorry but this is for your own good" and then reached down quickly, grabbed Yumi and took off into the forest.

Yumi was screaming at the top of her lungs so loud that Inuyasha clamped his ears to his head to shut out the high pitched wail coming from her. _She's got a good set of lungs for sure._ He stopped under a tree bouncing and rocking her to hopefully stop the noise.

Yumi began to try and claw and bite him to get away. "Hey kid, quit that" yelped Inuyasha as her little claws dug deep into his forearm. Soon a puffing and panting Miroku could be seen.

"Inuyasha, let her go!" he yelled bringing his staff up and standing in a fighting stance.

"Miroku, look at yourself, can't you see that what's happening isn't normal?"

"Inuyasha, I don't want to fight you but I will if you don't give her back, put her down" Miroku was so surprised that his friend had done such a thing that his trust in Inuyasha was not good at the moment. He was afraid Inuyasha was going to hurt her and it was making him act before thinking things through.

"Don't do it, I won't hurt her, I just want you to see that you're getting too bonded to her and her to you, it's not good. Miroku, what will happen when we find her parents? She won't want to go to them she'll be too bonded to you." Inuyasha was trying desperately to make his friend see sense.

"That's fine with me" he said angrily as he stepped towards Inuyasha trying to figure out how to hit him without hurting Yumi.

Yumi was still screeching, harder now that she saw Miroku and it was making him angrier, he was starting to see red and he really wanted to hurt Inuyasha for making her cry. For the first time ever, he felt a twinge of hate towards his half demon friend.

Inuyasha was paying so much attention to Miroku that he didn't notice Yumi open her mouth wide until he felt her bite him on the hand hard. "Damn it!" he yelled. It stung like mad and Inuyasha dropped her to the ground in his surprise.

As soon as Yumi was out of his hands Miroku swung his staff hard and connected with Inuyasha's cheek causing him to go flying back and hit the ground. Miroku was panting hard and advanced on the hanyou intent on tearing him limb from limb when Yumi's crying distracted him and he ran to her instead, picking her up and soothing her.

Inuyasha stood and began to walk over to Miroku rubbing the bruise that was appearing on his face.

"Don't come near me, don't come near ever again" said Miroku, his head down, his bangs hiding his eyes holding the quietly sobbing infant to his chest.

"Miroku" whispered Inuyasha realizing that maybe he hadn't done the smartest thing. "I'm…I'm sorry, I thought I was doing the right thing, for both of you."

"How could you do that? You've frightened her, I thought you…you were going to…" he couldn't finish.

"I wouldn't have harmed her" said Inuyasha, hurt that his friend would think such a thing "You've become bonded, I didn't realize how strongly until now. I won't do anything like this again, I promise" he said quietly hoping he hadn't lost his best friend

Miroku looked up at him seeing the sincerity written on his face "I wanted to kill you, I've never wanted to kill anyone but I wanted to kill you." He said aghast at his own feelings of hatred that he had experienced.

Inuyasha didn't know what to say, he lowered his ears in misery. _Why do I always do things without thinking?_ Finally he looked up and said quietly, "I'm sorry Miroku, I'm so sorry."

Miroku, his heart not able to hold a grudge, gave him a small smile. He walked over and put one of his hands on Inuyasha's shoulder, "It's ok, I know you meant well, I guess you were right about me not acting normal. I just wanted to protect her, the feeling was so strong."

Inuyasha smiled thankfully back at him and explained what he knew of parental demon bonds as they walked back to the village together.

How could this happen? I'm human" said Miroku astonished.

"I'm not sure, usually a bond this strong only happens with demons" Inuyasha answered, noting that Miroku kept Yumi on the opposite side of him as they walked along. He realized sadly that he had lost some of the trust that Miroku had always given him.


	4. Parantage Revealed

Chapter 4: Parentage Revealed

When they returned Yumi was sleeping peacefully so Miroku went to put her down in the hut. Before he went through the door Inuyasha said "We still have to look for her parents, are you prepared for that?"

"If we find them, I'll be ok" he said entering the hut thinking in his mind _I hope we find them dead._ It was then that he realized that maybe he had become too attached to this girl and perhaps he should try to distance himself a bit but the thought of her leaving him made his heart hurt.

Inuyasha went to the well and meet Kagome as she came through with bags and bags of stuff for Yumi. "I think that Miroku and Yumi are too attached" Inuyasha explained as they headed back to the village. "I tried to take her away from him for awhile and they both went ballistic"

He was irritated when Kagome took Miroku's side. "Why would you do that Inuyasha, Miroku is all she has and you tried to take her away?"

"I wasn't going to take her forever, jeeze. I just wanted to bring him to his senses. This is going to cause problems for us Kagome, you wait and see."

"Inuyasha….SIT" she said angrily "You're just thinking about yourself and how hard it would be to collect those stupid shards with a baby. That child could easily have been you, you baka! At least nobody tried to drown you!" Kagome stalked back towards the village leaving a stunned Inuyasha getting up from the ground.

_I didn't mean it like that. _ Inuyasha's feelings were quite hurt and he became angry, slashing at a tree and cutting it in two. When he had calmed down he realized that he did think Yumi would be a hindrance to them but he also wanted what was best for her, and to be with her own parents was best. He knew from experience that she would be happiest in her own mother's arms

He returned to the village in a quiet mood. Everyone was feeling strained and anxious. "Come on, lets go then" said Sango. Shippo jumped up on Miroku's shoulder and made a funny face at Yumi who was now in a baby carrier strapped to Miroku's chest that Kagome had brought back. She giggled delighted, her joyous laugh sounding like crystal bells easing the tension that had surrounded everyone.

Kagome had also brought formula, clothes, diapers, shampoo and anything else she thought a baby would need, her yellow bag overflowing. "Kagome we don't need that much stuff" groused Inuyasha as he made her take out some of the many outfits. "Just take a few we can wash them on the way if we need to."

They made their way back to the pond and Inuyasha sniffed around on the ground trying to pick up the odour of the men who had thrown her in. He found it and they headed west following the scent to a ratty looking village. They could see as they walked through that the people there were poor, most went back into their huts and closed the doors, looking at them with suspicion. The group finally stopped in front of a gang of three men who were harassing a shop keeper.

"Hey" said Inuyasha disgustedly "Are you the guys who tried to drown a baby?"

"What if we are, oh, I see you have the brat" said the one with a large belly hanging over his pants looking at Miroku who put his arms around Yumi.

"Don't bring her back here or we'll do it again" said the tall skinny one with the scar running across his cheek. The shortest and youngest of the group hung his head and said nothing.

Kagome and Sango were shocked at the unfeeling men. "How could you do that?" questioned Kagome. Sango was so disgusted that she shook in anger wanting badly to hit these men with her boomerang.

"We want to know where you got her, did you steal her?" Inuyasha wanted to rip his claws through these men.

"We don't have to tell you anything" said the fat one drawing a sword, "be on your way, your not welcome here freak, and take the brat with you"

Inuyasha lost it, he struck out with his claws and a huge gash appeared on the fat ones chest. He was breathing hard trying to bring himself back under control when the skinny one charged him, sword raised, ready to strike him down.

Miroku's staff knocked him on the head and he hit the ground unmoving. The fat one was groaning, holding his chest as the blood seeped through his fingers.

The youngest was walking backwards away from them, eyes wide. Sango grabbed his collar and practically lifted his feet off the ground. "Where did you get that baby?" she asked dangerously quiet.

"A wolf woman came, she was wounded and in labour. She had the child here in the village but didn't survive childbirth. These guys took the baby and threw her in the pond. I…I didn't want to hurt her but…but…"

Sango dropped him wiping her hand on the leg of her outfit as if she had touched the most disgusting thing in the world. "But you didn't help her much either" she said. The boy dropped his head in shame.

"What about the father?" Kagome asked.

"There was no father, just her, that's all I know honestly" the boy was now crumpled on the ground weeping.

The group walked away and out of the village. Inuyasha couldn't catch any scent of the female wolf demon. "It's been to long, the scent is gone. Guess she stays with us, for now" he said smiling at Yumi.

Miroku was very happy, he said a prayer for Yumi's mother and the group continued to walk down the road.

A few days later as Miroku was bathing her he noticed little smudges on her face that would not come off. "Hey, what do you think these are" he said worriedly thinking that perhaps they were bruises.

Inuyasha came to look at her noticing that Miroku was still nervous when he came near. He sighed and decided not to make a big deal out of it instead looking at Yumi who immediately brought her hands up to grab his hair.

_At least she forgives me_ he thought with a smile. "These are her demon marks, sometimes pups don't get them until they're a few weeks old, its nothing to worry about. They should be easier to see in a few more days when they come in fully."

Five days later everyone was shocked at the marks on Yumi's face. Two magenta stripes on each cheek and a little blue quarter moon on her forehead. There was only one other demon they knew of with marks like that.


	5. Surprising News for Sesshoumaru

Chapter 5: Surprising News For Sesshoumaru

"Inuyasha we can't give Yumi to Sesshoumaru!" cried out Kagome as she watched the shocked face of Miroku. "We don't know what he'll do!"

"My brother may be an asshole but he would never harm a child, especially his own" replied Inuyasha. "He lets that human girl tag after him all the time and she's ok."

"Maybe he abandoned her" said Miroku just a bit hopefully, "He may not want her either."

This did not set right with Inuyasha; something else was going on here. He knew that, at least Inu demons would always protect their children and unless they died they would not just abandon them.

Sango knew this also, having had to fight demons all her life she knew that a demon protecting a child was something one did not fool with lightly and they would never leave an infant on its own. "Maybe he doesn't know."

Everyone became quiet and thought about that. "Possibly" Inuyasha said thoughtfully. That would explain why the child was not with him now. _But he left his pregnant mate, why would he do that?_ Inuyasha was getting confused thinking about it. "Look, we're not going to know anything unless we find him and see what he has to say for himself" he said looking around at the group, especially Miroku. He knew this was going to be very hard on the monk.

Everyone began to argue with Inuyasha at once, they did not trust the demon lord and did not want him around Yumi.

"Shit, you can plainly see this is his kid" said Inuyasha getting angry. "Don't you think he has a right to know he has one?"

The others bowed their heads, shamed that they had thought to keep such important news from him. It then struck Inuyasha that the child was his niece, his blood relative, and, as such, he had the right to claim her if his brother would not. He decided not to mention this yet until Sesshoumaru could be found.

Sesshoumaru was walking his lands with no place in particular to go. He just wandered keeping an eye on the goings on in his territory, Rin was happily walking beside him stopping from time to time when she saw an interesting flower to pick and then running to catch back up. Jaken was a few steps behind babbling away about something or another, Sesshoumaru just tuned him out.

Suddenly a scent wafted by his nose, m_y brother, what's he doing on my lands,_ not even thinking that the lands, by rights, also belonged to Inuyasha.

"Jaken, stay here with Rin, I have something to attend to."

"Yes, my lord" replied Jaken bowing in respect before screaming at Rin to come back and follow his orders.

They all saw Sesshoumaru as they came around a turn in the road. He was standing, the wind blowing his hair gently, waiting for them to approach. He smelled a new scent that was with his brothers group and wondered what it was for a moment before dismissing it from his mind as inconsequential. They all stopped nervously a few feet away from the intimidating lord of the western lands as Inuyasha continued to approach.

"Why are you here Inuyasha?" asked Sesshoumaru curiously and a bit suspiciously. This was not like his brother to come before him without his weapon drawn.

"We need to talk, Sesshoumaru, about something important."

"Yes?" Sesshoumaru's innate curiosity was now peeked and he decided to see what this was about before squashing Inuyasha like a bug.

Inuyasha motioned for Miroku to come forward. Sesshoumaru could see he was holding something in his arms._ That's what the new scent is, what is that?_ Sesshoumaru looked up trying to see what the monk was hiding.

"Show him" Inuyasha told Miroku, who very carefully held the little demon girl out for Sesshoumaru to inspect. She looked at the great lord with no fear, smiling and holding her hands out to him.

Sesshoumaru's eyes went large with surprise, so shocked at what he was seeing that he forgot to hide it behind the uncaring mask he always wore. He soon recovered and looked at the two males before him.

"She's yours, isn't she?" questioned Inuyasha.

Sesshoumaru looked at the pup again, his thoughts whirling._ She can't be a child of mine but she has my markings. Her mother, she wasn't in heat, I would have known, how?_

Sesshoumaru recognized where the child had come by her blue eye, her mother, a lovely wolf demon he had hooked up with one night had two of them. They had had a short tryst, nothing of importance and had both gone their own ways the next day, he hadn't even thought of her since. However the child came to be, here she was and he knew she was his.

"Yes" replied Sesshoumaru to Inuyasha's question but would say nothing further, feeling these others had no reason to know his business. "Where is her mother?" he asked instead.

"Dead", replied Inuyasha.

Miroku was watching Sesshoumaru closely, if he tried to harm the child he was ready to attack.

Sesshoumaru gave no reaction at all. He could sense the fear and protectiveness coming off the monk in waves and wondered momentarily about that.

"She died in childbirth, the men in the village she was at tried to drown Yumi, Miroku saved her", Inuyasha told him also watching as close as Miroku trying to gauge his brothers feelings towards the pup. Still Sesshoumaru showed no feelings one way or the other.

"Yumi?" questioned Sesshoumaru raising an eyebrow. Inside he was boiling mad at what Inuyasha had just told him. _Humans, I knew they were all animals!_

"Sango named her" replied Miroku for the first time addressing the demon lord. He then questioned, "Why did you leave her mother, I thought demons mated for life."

"She was not my mate."

There was an awkward silence for a few moments then Sesshoumaru ordered "Give the pup to me" as he held out his arm.

Miroku clutched Yumi tighter; he did not want to give her up. Inuyasha knew this was about to become a real problem when he heard his brother growl low in his throat as he approached Miroku.

"I said give her to me" he stated with quiet menace.

"Miroku, just give him the pup, she's his, you can't keep her." Inuyasha was getting worried and started to step between Miroku and his brother hoping there was not going to be a blood bath when finally Miroku passed her into Sesshoumaru's waiting arm.

Sesshoumaru turned and walked back the way he had came no longer acknowledging them. Yumi, not being able to see Miroku any longer, began to wail, trying to turn in Sesshoumaru's embrace to see him.

Miroku was just barely holding on to sanity, he wanted to go and grab her from Sesshoumaru, his chest began to feel tight and his eyes began to sting. He felt like someone had just punched him in the gut.

Sesshoumaru looked down at the wailing infant "Be quiet" he ordered. She ignored his order, instead looking up to him and frowning angrily she screamed louder.

No one had ever disobeyed an order from Sesshoumaru before and he was stunned, momentarily at a loss for what to do. He continued to walk away with a howling Yumi trying to ignore the noise as best he could.

Just as his figure disappeared over the hill Miroku couldn't stand it any longer. He looked at his long time friends and with hope in his heart that they would understand said "I'm sorry, I can't stay."

"What!" said Inuyasha shocked at what he was hearing.

"Miroku, what are you saying?" cried out Sango.

"I'm sorry" Miroku just about sobbed, "I have to be with her, I can't leave her."

"No, Miroku, don't go" Kagome said trying to hold onto him. "Sesshoumaru will kill you."

"If he wants to go, let him go" said Inuyasha angrily crossing his arms over his chest. _I tried to tell him, but nooo, don't listen to Inuyasha. Stupid monk!_

"Inuyasha!" yelled Kagome, surprised he would say such a thing.

"I'm sorry, please, forgive me", and with that Miroku ran in the direction Sesshoumaru had just gone leaving his stunned friends watching after him.


	6. A New Group

Chapter 6: A New Group

Sesshoumaru heard the monk behind him, trudging along with nervousness, fear and anxiety dripping off him like water. It was giving him a headache. "What do you want human?" he intoned menacingly.

"Please, Sesshoumaru, let me come with you, I can help, I've been taking care of her, I know what she needs." The monk sputtered out quickly.

Sesshoumaru stopped and, placing Yumi on the ground carefully, stepped back to where Miroku was so quickly that he didn't even see him move. He back handed the monk hard across the face causing him to fly onto the ground about ten feet away the breath knocked out of him. Before he could rise Sesshoumaru was before him again this time lifting him bodily by the front of his robes.

"You think I can't take care of a child?" he growled out pulling Miroku closer.

Miroku was dazed and reached up with his hand to grab Sesshoumaru's wrist, gasping. "No, that's not what I meant. I just want to be with her" he said miserably.

Sesshoumaru held him a bit longer looking hard at him then dropped him to the ground.

"You will address me properly you do not have the right to call me by my name."

He then walked back to where Yumi had been sitting watching everything that had happened. Sesshoumaru noticed that she had stopped crying when she saw the monk and puzzled over that. He then picked her up and began to walk away from Miroku, not looking back.

Miroku saw that as a sign to follow and he said "Thank you my lord" to Sesshoumaru's retreating back as he gained his feet and hurried after the retreating demon.

When they got to where Rin and Jaken were waiting, Rin was joyous, "Oh, a puppy, Sesshoumaru-sama is it yours?" she asked not knowing if the pup was a girl or a boy.

"Yes Rin" he answered.

"It is a girl?" she asked excitedly trying to peek at the pup.

"Yes" Sesshoumaru said with infinite patience.

Rin then noticed Miroku standing back a bit from Sesshoumaru and, recognizing him from her lord's brother's group, greeted him happily. "Are you going to be travelling with us?" she asked innocently not even wondering about the huge purple bruise that was taking over his cheek.

"Yes, for awhile" he said glancing at Sesshoumaru to see if he would say anything different. When he didn't argue the point Miroku took that for a good sign.

"Rin is so happy, now I have someone else to play with, Master Jaken doesn't know how to play very well" she whispered the last part to Miroku conspiratually. Miroku smiled at the human child and patted her head.

Sesshoumaru approached and putting Yumi in Miroku's hands said "She needs changing" he then walked over to the fire where Jaken was to put some fear into the little imp who was complaining about having two more join their little group.

Miroku was so happy to have Yumi back in his arms as was she. She giggled and laughed cooing up at him happily. Rin was enthralled and touched her gently laughing as well.

Sesshoumaru watched as Miroku hugged the pup to him, waves of happiness coming off from his aura. _They've bonded_ he thought with a bit of wonder. He had no idea humans could bond to a demon child. _Maybe it's just this monk_. He was not about to change his mind about humans. As far as he was concerned the world would be better off without them. They destroyed everything they touched having no respect or honor for anything other than their own needs. _Rin is human_ said a small voice in his head._ She is a child and knows no better, its good she is with me so I can teach her properly. _The voice made no reply.

Rin helped Miroku change Yumi's diaper. He still had the carrier and a couple of extra cloth diapers with him when he left to follow Sesshoumaru. When he looked up he noticed the stoic demon was not there.

"He's gone off to find food for your worthless stomach" Jaken told him sourly scuttling back to the fire cursing under his breath. His lord had told him to keep an eye on the monk and to not let him leave, especially with the pup.

"Master Jaken is not so bad, he's just not very happy a lot of the time" Rin told Miroku who was confused as to why Sesshoumaru would have such a nasty toad traveling with him.

Miroku, happy just to be with Yumi again, shrugged his shoulders and began to entertain the two children, waving his fingers for Yumi as he told Rin a funny story of one of his adventures with Inuyasha.

When Sesshoumaru returned he saw a laughing Rin, a giggling pup, a happy monk and a sour faced imp. Somehow, he felt a bit lighter in his heart watching the scene as well as surprise at seeing the monk had not tried to run with his child.

Rin noticed him first, running up to him and embracing his legs. "Sesshoumaru-sama Rin is happy you are back."

Sesshoumaru patted her on the head "It is time to eat and then go to bed, Rin."

She bowed to Sesshoumaru and Miroku and left to find her bowl.

Miroku was now feeling nervous again, he was alone with the overbearing demon who was just staring at him. Finally Sesshoumaru put out his arm asking without words for Yumi. Miroku placed her in his arm and watched astonished as Sesshoumaru sat on the ground, putting the pup on his legs in front of him and pulled out a bag full of milk from his kimono popping it into her mouth.

Yumi was content as she sucked happily on the end of the bag looking up with large curious eyes at the demon above her. She took a quick glance with her eyes to make sure Miroku was still there before again putting her attention on Sesshoumaru.

"There is food by the fire, go and eat" he commanded

Miroku hesitated momentarily but then scooted off when Sesshoumaru brought his eyes up to lock onto his. His expression saying he expected him to obey.

Yumi made a face as if she was going to cry but then Sesshoumaru leaned down and gently nipped her nose. She looked up in surprise and gave him a small sniff. He sniffed back and she giggled before again latching onto the bag, her little dual colored eyes starting to close.

Sesshoumaru was glad she had instinctively accepted the small disciplinary action he had given her and was encouraged that she had sniffed his scent to put it in her memory. That was a good sign for him to bond with her as her parent. He watched with satisfaction as she drifted off to sleep unworried as to where the monk had gone.


	7. Confusing Emotions

This chapter contains a small amount of shounen ai. (light fluffy boy on boy stuff)

Chapter 7: Confusing Emotions

"Inuyasha we must get Miroku back" said Kagome firmly.

"He was the one that wanted to chase after Sesshoumaru, let him go."

Inuyasha was upset that his friend had basically abandoned their group and quest in favour of Sesshoumaru's kid. He was also very surprised that Miroku wasn't back with his tail between his legs as he was certain his assassin brother would not have tolerated him around.

Inuyasha had gone out earlier without the girl's knowledge and tracked Miroku when he hadn't been back within a few days, worried that maybe Sesshoumaru had killed him after all. He had found him still with his brother and basically unhurt except for a fading bruise on his cheek. He was amazed that Sesshoumaru allowed him there, he even saw Miroku holding the pup with Sesshoumaru's blessings it seemed.

"Inuyasha…" Kagome said with a dangerous tone of voice.

He looked at her saying "He's made his decision, we should leave him be, if he wants to come back he will."

Inuyasha was tired of fighting about it and just wanted to carry on, they couldn't chase after Miroku forever; they had shards to get and Naraku to defeat. Inuyasha hoped that Miroku knew what he was doing as he stalked off from Kagome and Sango. "Come or stay, I'm going to find Naraku" he told them.

They sadly followed him, hoping they would see Miroku again.

The days went by for the strange group in the west and they fell into a simple routine. Miroku would care for the kids and help Jaken cook and set up their camps, Sesshoumaru hunting for food and providing protection by token of his very presence.

Many who saw them could not believe what they were seeing; a demon lord followed by a human child, a monk carrying an infant and an imp. They were quite the procession and as more demons heard of them, they plotted to gain Sesshoumaru's lands and power, thinking he would be an easy target with this weak group; they grew bolder.

Miroku, Rin and Yumi were in the hot springs that Sesshoumaru had taken them to when Miroku had said they needed to be cleaned of the dust from the road. He was holding Yumi as she played in the water, splashing her hands and laughing as Rin swam under the water and then popped up right in front of her.

Miroku had been feeling down for awhile, he missed his friends and had given up trying to draw the overly quiet and depressing demon into any type of conversation.

_I've heard of tight lipped but he takes the cake._

Miroku had been very respectful of Sesshoumaru not wanting a repeat of being slapped or maybe worse, but he was lonely. Sesshoumaru basically ignored his very presence and it made him feel like he was invisible. He loved Rin now as much as Yumi and the two kids made the long days worthwhile. He was beginning to figure out Sesshoumaru's moods and it would have surprised everyone that he was beginning to know the stoic lord better than even his long time retainer. He knew that Sesshoumaru kept a tight rein on his emotions and he guessed it was because something bad had happened in his past that made him close him self off for protection, but occasionally he was rewarded with snips and snaps of seeing the seemingly unfeeling demon with his guard down.

He was thinking of one of those times when the three demons approached unnoticed.

He remembered the time when he had woken because Yumi had not been by his side, he opened his eyes slowly and, with his monks training, kept his breathing regular and his heart beat slow, to see Sesshoumaru holding the sleeping infant with a beautiful genuine smile of his face. Miroku saw the absolute love in his eyes as he had gazed at her and since then never had a worry about her being with her father. He also remembered how beautiful he thought Sesshoumaru was at that time and wished he could be closer to him. He surprised himself by this because he had never thought of any man as truly beautiful. _I must be lonelier than I believe_.

While he was thinking about this he did not have his full attention on the three demonic aura's that were congregating on him so was completely taken off guard when two of them jumped out from behind the bushes intent on grabbing the children.

He reacted quickly, tightening his hold on Yumi and yelling for Rin to run. Rin almost made it when one of the demons grabbed her as she was just getting out of the water.

Miroku holding Yumi in one arm and his staff in the other swung it down hard on the demons arm that was holding Rin, breaking it. He knew this wouldn't last long as he could see the arm beginning to knit right before his eyes but at least he had let go of the little girl.

He pushed Yumi into Rin's hands and told her to run back and get help. He stood between her and the demons as she made her escape.

The demon was furious that this human had thwarted his plan to grab the brats and trade them for Sesshoumaru's land, making himself lord.

He grabbed at Miroku who quickly jumped to the side to be almost decapitated by the one eyed demon which had swung a very sharp curved sword. He ducked spinning his staff, connecting with the one eyed demons temple making him crash to the ground dead.

He then turned on the first demon trying not to allow him to get past, he swung his staff and the demon leapt back, Miroku following, getting ready to release his wind tunnel, not realizing he was entering a trap until too late.

The third demon that had still been hiding in the bushes came leaping out slashing with his large talons. They connected, raking deeply across Miroku's bare chest causing a huge gush of blood to spurt into the air. Miroku hit the ground hard, his head swimming; the pain in his chest almost unbearable. That's when he saw Sesshoumaru, flying through the air, power flowing out of his demonic sword, cutting the two remaining demons into bits of dust.

Sesshoumaru knelt down beside Miroku looking at his wounds.

Miroku saw the slightest widening of his eyes and said "That good huh?"

He tried to laugh but started coughing which just aggravated the pain in his chest. Moaning he looked up to Sesshoumaru's golden eyes, which had the tiniest hint of worry in them, saying "I would rather not die if you could do something about it."

Sesshoumaru couldn't believe the human was still alive. The wounds were deep, nasty and he had lost a lot of blood. When he had said he didn't want to die, something inside Sesshoumaru said he didn't want him to die either. He leaned forward and drew his tongue against the wounds causing Miroku to squirm.

"What are you doing?" Miroku gasped, Sesshoumaru's tongue was making the wounds sting even more and he groaned out his question painfully trying to get away.

"Be still" commanded Sesshoumaru as he let his saliva become slightly acidic to cauterize the wounds. He lapped up all the blood from the gashes noting that Miroku tasted very nice, sweet and salty at the same time.

Miroku was starting to black out from loss of blood and Sesshoumaru bit into his own wrist holding it to Miroku's mouth commanding "Drink this now."

Miroku began to gently lick the blood offered and a bolt of energy went through his body. He grabbed the proffered arm with his hand and began to suck forcefully, trying to pull the spicy elixir into his body as he heard Sesshoumaru hiss.

Sesshoumaru felt the pulling sensation as the monk tried to suck him dry of his life's blood and hissed out at the slightly painful sensation. He did not remove his arm, knowing that if Miroku didn't gain the energy of his blood he would most likely die. _Now when did I start thinking of him as Miroku? I could just bring him back with Tenseiga, why do I want to honor his wish not to die?_

Sesshoumaru started to feel a bit light headed and finally pulled his arm away from Miroku. He could see the wounds were slowly closing, his demon healing ability passed on to Miroku though his blood, although he knew scars would always remain.

As Miroku lie there coming out of his fog, Sesshoumaru, spotting his robes, retrieved them and passed them to him. "Get dressed, we are leaving." He then turned and walked back to the camp to check on the two girls he had left with Jaken.

Miroku was feeling quite high, the blood running through him making him feel powerful and strong, like he could do anything in the world. He dressed trying to control his pounding heart. _Why did he do that? He saved me and I'm sure I saw concern in his eyes._

Miroku had gotten very good at reading Sesshoumaru's smallest body movements and eye signals and knew he wasn't wrong. _Could he like me a little bit after all?_ That thought made Miroku feel a bit less lonely.

A few evenings later Miroku had gone off by himself. He was sitting on a log looking out over a meadow watching fireflies flit and blink amongst the tall grass feeling slightly depressed. He had hoped that maybe Sesshoumaru would talk to him more or treat him like he actually existed but nothing had really changed, in fact it seemed like the demon lord was actually avoiding him more than usual. He sighed wondering what his friends were doing now, missing their easy banter and teasing. He reached up with the sleeve of his robe and wiped a small tear that had appeared in the corner of his eye.

Sesshoumaru was watching from the shadows as Miroku sat on the log and sighed. He could feel depression and loneliness coming from the human and it was really bothering his youkai.

His confused youkai had decided that Miroku was his mate. They had exchanged blood. Miroku was doing all the things a mate would do, care for his children, preparing and serving his meals. Sesshoumaru was acting as the alpha, bringing home the food and protecting him and the children, just exactly as things should be as far as his demonic instincts were concerned.

This was playing havoc with Sesshoumaru's emotions as at times he wanted to hold Miroku and kiss him or make love to him as a good mate should. He held himself in check and even tried to stay away from the dark haired monk in the hopes that these feelings would go away. When he smelt the salty scent of tears he couldn't handle it any longer.

Miroku jumped when Sesshoumaru stood before him seeming to just appear out of no where. "Have I treated you unfairly?" he asked looking down on the miserably sad human.

"No, my lord, you haven't treated my like anything" Miroku replied respectfully and truthfully.

Sesshoumaru knew this was true, he hadn't even treated him as well as he treated Jaken and that was saying something. His demon instincts were berating him for making his mate feel so poorly and unwanted.

Miroku looked out towards the meadow again ignoring Sesshoumaru who he figured was just going to walk off anyways. He was totally surprised when he sat down beside him and joined him in looking out over the meadow. He slid a glance in his direction after a few moments of silence and saw Sesshoumaru had turned to face him.

Sesshoumaru reached out and gently touched the side of his face, putting his hand under his chin and turning his head to face him.

Miroku was shocked to say the least. Sesshoumaru was being so gentle and had a tender look in his eyes. _What's he doing?_ Miroku was totally confused but he held his breath not wanting this contact to end.

Sesshoumaru leaned in and gently and chastely kissed Miroku's lips marvelling at the softness and sweetness of them.

Miroku lonely; was so happy that he wasn't being ignored for a change, began to kiss back just as gently, closing his eyes and sighing.

They both broke apart slowly amazed at the feelings flowing through them.

Miroku, who always chased women, had just gotten the best kiss of his life from a man. Not only that but he wanted more of this demon, and wasn't ashamed to admit it to himself. He surprised himself at the amount of feelings he had for Sesshoumaru. He truly liked him and wanted Sesshoumaru to like him back.

Sesshoumaru just felt totally complete, as if this was the person he was meant to be with. That small contact made him not feel lonely anymore, something the dog demon had gotten used to over the centuries. He could have cared less if Miroku was a man. He already had two heirs to his lands so more children was not an issue.

"You are not alone Miroku" Sesshoumaru said quietly looking out over the meadow again.

Miroku noticed that Sesshoumaru had called him by name, the first time he had done so since he had followed after him. He didn't know what to say so just sat, stunned, looking off into the distance.

"You may leave if you wish" said Sesshoumaru wondering if maybe he had done the wrong thing here, "You can go back to your friends"

"You want me to leave?" asked Miroku worried that he had just misread everything and that Sesshoumaru was going to send him packing.

"No"

Miroku pondered that small answer. "I want to stay. My friends can do just as well without me."

"I doubt that, but as you wish." Sesshoumaru was trying very hard to get himself back under control so he wouldn't jump the boy right here. He was glad Miroku wanted to stay but he had to know one more thing. "Do you stay to be with me or with Yumi?" He was very concerned at what the answer to this question would be.

"Both" replied Miroku honestly.

Sesshoumaru was satisfied with that answer and leaned in and gave Miroku another small kiss. He wanted so much to throw him to the grass and just take him but held himself back. Rising from the log, he looked at Miroku who did the same and followed him back towards camp. Sesshoumaru did not want to rush into anything blind; he had to make sure he would not get hurt, again.


	8. Sesshoumaru's Past

Warning! This chapter contains yaoi and rape.

Chapter 8: Sesshoumaru's Past

Days turned into weeks and Sesshoumaru and Miroku developed an easy friendship, neither pushing the other in their relationship allowing it to flow along as it wanted. Sesshoumaru's youkai, seeing this period as courting, was satisfied and left him alone, allowing him rest from the intense emotions he had been feeling before.

Miroku had been asking Sesshoumaru about his childhood, where he grew up, what did he do for fun, and the like. Sesshoumaru had answered some questions, others he avoided until one day Miroku asked, "Do you not trust me?"

"It's not that" he answered, "There are parts of my childhood that are not….pleasant. I would rather not talk about them now. Perhaps some day I will tell you."

That hadn't entirely satisfied Miroku but for the moment he let it drop.

Sesshoumaru was thinking of his childhood right at the moment. He had been on a hunt and had stopped by a brook to get a drink. He noticed a large weeping willow tree and because of Miroku's questions of his past, it had brought back a harsh memory. He had been raped under a weeping willow.

He had been no more than the age of Rin at the time and had gone off into his father's woods to play, arrogant in the fact that no one would bother him as he was the taiyoukai's son.

Sesshoumaru is an extremely good looking male and when a child, he was beautiful. There were those who coveted that beauty and had followed the young demon as he wandered in the woods looking at this and that. He smelt the human males but put them out of his mind. His father always had humans around, servants and lords that he dealt with on a daily basis, so Sesshoumaru felt no fear.

He had just gone under the long strands of the willow, happy to have found such a secret place when they pounced. They grabbed the young lord and roughly threw him to the ground on his stomach, one tying a gag around his mouth so he couldn't cry out. He struggled, trying to claw his way free but they were too strong for him and held him tight as they ripped off his clothing, pulled his legs apart and raped him brutally, each taking turns until they were well satisfied. They had hurt Sesshoumaru badly, one had twisted his arm so hard behind his back that it had broken, he had blood running down between his legs and his face was tear streaked and bruised from being pushed into the hard ground. Bruises and scratches covered his back and sides.

They had finally let go of the weeping and trembling boy, one of the men leaning down close to his ear. "If you tell your father, we will come back again" causing Sesshoumaru's breath to hitch in his chest in fear "besides, he will not be pleased with what you have done, you have caused him a great disgrace."

Sesshoumaru's eyes opened large in shock, this was the worst thing they could have said to the boy as he held his father in highest regard, seeing him as a god, and he never wanted to disappoint him in any way. He believed them and rolling into a little ball, cried his heart out under the tree. This was the last time he ever shed tears again and the first time he learned to hate, not only others, but himself as well.

When he returned back to the castle, his clothing ripped, his arm broken, his mother had asked him what he had done to himself. He told her that he had been climbing a tree and had fallen thereby breaking the arm and ripping his clothes. She had called the healer to aid her son and then telling him he needed to be more careful next time left to go about her business. His father never came to see him at all as he lay in his bed feeling hurt and alone.

Sesshoumaru was clenching his fist so hard that blood was dripping from his palm as these images played across his memory. He had not thought of that incident in a long time and it still made him feel weak and small. Other memories began to come to him as if that one memory had now opened the floodgates of all he had tried to suppress.

His mother had been married to his father in an arranged marriage to bring two great houses together. Neither had loved each other and he was born, as was expected, to become the heir that was needed for the western lands.

His mother was never cruel to him but she saw him as his father's son and didn't really pay much attention to him, feeling her duty had been done by providing the taiyoukai an heir.

She was miserable at the castle of her husband and not long after Sesshoumaru had been raped, she left to go back to her people and to the one man she had left behind that she did love. No one worried about it as she had not taken the lord's heir and there had been rumours flying that the great lord had taken a human mistress to his bed and that he had sent the demon female away.

Sesshoumaru, in his childhood grief and naivety, believed that his mother must have found out about his shameful secret and had left him because of that, disgusted by her only son.

Sesshoumaru had also heard the rumours of the human female and had watched as his father spent more and more time with a dark haired woman, stealing time with her whenever he could. The young boy tried to gain his fathers attentions, trying to do his best in everything he was set to do, but the woman, it seemed to Sesshoumaru, became more important to his father and he would sometimes leave his son in favour of spending time with her. This was when Sesshoumaru's hate increased for humans, as he could not hate his father, putting up the wall that was to encase his heart.

One day his father came to him and told him he had found him a sensei to teach him about the affairs of state and to instruct him in the martial arts. Sesshoumaru was happy to do his fathers bidding and bowing low told him he would do his best and make him proud.

The sensei, a jackal demon, was strict to the point of bordering on cruel. He pushed Sesshoumaru hard in his studies, making the boy stay up late into the night without food or water all day until he got a problem solved. In the training arena he never held back with his attacks, sometimes breaking bones or causing Sesshoumaru to become unconscious, telling the boy that he would have to learn to take punishment and fight through the pain if he was to become as great as his father.

The one time Sesshoumaru went to his father in the hopes he would get him a new sensei, his father had rebuked him, telling him to stop fooling around and to listen to his sensei. The jackal had been to the great lord earlier that day complaining that his son was not giving his all.

He had told him that the jackal was the best in the land and that he would obey his commands and continue his studies without complaint. Sesshoumaru had bowed low, upset and ashamed that he had displeased his great father and did as he was commanded, sometimes crawling to his room exhausted and wounded in his body and his soul. Some more bricks began to appear to make the wall higher.

The day his father had died, the day Inuyasha had been born, had been the worst for Sesshoumaru. As a young man he had become very strong, an asset to the western lands and he had hoped that finally his father would be proud of him and would love him.

He never smiled anymore, the joy of life beaten out of him long ago and he hid his emotions as best as he could, keeping all at arms length, afraid to trust anyone. His father never noticed the slow changes in his son, believing instead that Sesshoumaru had matured and left his childhood behind. He never knew the pain that was in his own son's heart day after day.

Sesshoumaru, standing before the dog demon after he had come back from defeating the great dragon Ryukotsusei, knew his father was wounded. _He should be off trying to heal, not staying in his demon form to go rescue his human wench_ was what he thought

His father had asked him if he was going to stop him. As much as Sesshoumaru wanted to, he told his father he would not, hoping he would see the senselessness in this rescue and decide on his own not to go, to stay with him instead. His father then asked him a most unusual question. _Do you have something to protect?_

Sesshoumaru was astounded, never in his life had he felt true compassion from anyone so he had no one that was close to him, no one to protect. He told his father no and then his great father had left him. He died that day protecting a human woman and a half breed infant. Sesshoumaru realized that his father had never once tried to protect him.

The last brick clicked into place around his heart the day he had gone to see his new brother. He was curious as to what it was that his father saw in this child and not in him. When he approached the house that the human wench and his brother were, she grabbed the child to her trying to protect him.

Sesshoumaru was hurt beyond words at the fear he felt coming from this woman. He realized that she believed he was there to kill his own blood and it cut deep that she would think he was without honour. He turned and left, jealousy blooming in his breast that this small insignificant half demon deserved so much more love and protection than him.

Over time he became the lord assassin of the western lands, moving from place to place as a ghost, unfeeling and uncaring of anything that went on, loneliness his only companion, glad of the fear he instilled in others.

With a sigh Sesshoumaru came out of his remembrances. He made his way back to Miroku, Rin, Jaken and Yumi with nothing showing on his face but his mood was quite subdued.

Miroku noticed the small changes in his companion, he frowned in worry as the evening went on and he saw the dullness in Sesshoumaru's eyes.

"What's wrong?" asked Miroku when Jaken had left them alone, the two girls asleep.

"Nothing" was the one word reply.

"I know you, there is something wrong, please tell me."

Sesshoumaru looked into the caring eyes of his monk and unbelievably, even to himself, told Miroku everything. He left nothing out, Miroku quietly waiting for him to finish only gasping once in awhile when Sesshoumaru told him of some of the worse things that had happened to him. He finished, his heart pounding in his chest, a lump forming in his throat, trying desperately to control his emotions.

Miroku was shocked at all Sesshoumaru had endured. _Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru have more in common than they think, it's too bad they couldn't have been proper brothers, they could have helped each other. _

Miroku was angry at the unfairness of fate and looking at Sesshoumaru who now had his head lowered, hiding his face so Miroku could not see his misery.

Miroku reached out and wrapped both arms around him. "Remember when you told me I wasn't alone?" he asked.

Sesshoumaru said nothing he just leaned back into Miroku's embrace.

"You are not alone either, Sesshoumaru, I'll always be here with you."

This was the first time Miroku had said his name since being slapped those many weeks ago and Sesshoumaru decided he liked the sound of it coming from those lovely lips.

"Don't say things you can't do" he said sadly, knowing that no matter what, Miroku was human and would die well before him.

"Well I'll be here for as long as I'm able, I will not leave you willingly."

Sesshoumaru gave a small smile, and in a rare moment of letting his emotions fully out said, "That would be nice."

They turned looking into each others eyes, one seeing the love and compassion he had always been missing, the other seeing the love and trust the other had never been able to give before.

They kissed each other gently, Miroku taking the lead and running his hands through Sesshoumaru's soft hair, teasing it and causing tingles to run from his scalp down his spine.

Sesshoumaru deepened the kiss, running his tongue along Miroku's lips asking for him to open his mouth so he could enter.

Miroku opened, his own tongue right there to push and stroke against Sesshoumaru's.

Sesshoumaru groaned at the feelings of pleasure that swept over him, bringing his arm up to Miroku's back, gently running his hand over the muscles there. They lay back on the ground, Sesshoumaru on top, their lips locked together.

Miroku ran his hands over Sesshoumaru's back and around to the front of his kimono, untying the body armour that he always wore and slipping it off. He reached into the kimono and ran his fingers over the chest and nipples of his demon, feeling his manhood enlarge when Sesshoumaru moaned out at the pleasure he was receiving. Miroku took his lips off Sesshoumaru's and placed them on his chest instead, rolling the now flushed demon over so he could gain better purchase to the lovely body. He licked and teased, running his tongue up to Sesshoumaru's neck and back down to the hard nipples of his chest, his hands roaming over the hard muscles of his stomach and shoulders, trying to take the top of the kimono off.

Sesshoumaru was doing the same. With his one arm he was untying the sash that held the monk's robe closed. That done, he pulled the robes open at his chest to look upon the well toned body of his human consort.

They both came together again in a hot searing kiss, tongues wrapping around each others, hands flying over bodies finding the special places that made them gasp out in pleasure, their still clothed members rubbing against each others causing a heat to build between them.

They both pulled apart quickly when they heard a small cry. Yumi was waking, probably to be changed, and they put their clothes back in order to go tend to her. Before leaving, Sesshoumaru reached forward and grabbed Miroku close, kissing him softly once more, trying with his actions to thank the monk for accepting him and allowing him to release the burden he had carried for so many years.


	9. Hello Again

Chapter 9: Hello Again

Inuyasha, Kagome, Shippo and Sango were resting in the forest. They had just fought a large demon and had been able to retrieve another jewel shard. It had been a hard battle, Kagome was bandaging Sango's arm where the beast had managed to grab hold of her causing two long gashes. They were tired and sad, all of them missing their fourth friend.

Kagome and Sango were getting sick and tired of Inuyasha. He had been extra grouchy and bossy since Miroku had left. Pushing them all to the limit to get the shards, some days they barely had a chance to rest. Shippo, at the moment, was crashed out in the grass, going to sleep as soon as he lay down.

"Come on, let's go" ordered Inuyasha getting up from the ground and going over to Shippo to give him a shake.

"Inuyasha" moaned Kagome, "Can't we rest just a bit longer? We're so tired."

"The sooner we get going the sooner we can rest at the village, now come on."

Shippo sat up and with his tail hanging started to walk down the road towards the village, the girls following behind as Inuyasha led the way. Nobody said a word, they had barely spoken as the weeks had rolled by, all of the fun and enjoyment of being together seemed to be gone.

When they got to the village, Sango feeling a bit more depressed than usual said, "I wish Miroku were here."

"I don't want to hear anything about that dumb monk!" cried out Inuyasha turning on Sango. "He made his choice, he didn't want to be with us, get over it! He was just a pervert anyways, always chasing women. We don't need him, he's useless."

Kagome was shocked by Inuyasha's outburst and just stood looking at him with large round eyes. Sango reacted quicker, walking right up to him she slapped him hard across the face and then ran crying down the road with Kagome and Shippo right behind her.

Inuyasha was feeling like a jerk by the time he got to Kaede's hut. He hadn't meant to be so harsh but Miroku leaving had hurt and he dealt with that hurt with anger, lashing out at everybody. He drove them hard to find the shards so he could put his thoughts on something else other than Miroku. He was heading in to try and make it up to Sango when an angry Kaede came out of the door and grabbing his ear, dragged him down the road to a more private area to give him a piece of her mind.

"Ow, ow, ow, ow what do you think you're doing you old hag!"

"Inuyasha, Miroku's leaving was your fault" she ground out at him making Inuyasha stop his yelling immediately. Now that she had his attention she let go of his ear and continued. "When you took Yumi from him that day, you put the protective instincts the child was making him feel into overdrive. It caused him not to be able to let go when Lord Sesshoumaru claimed her. He had no choice in the matter, the child made sure he would not leave her."

Inuyasha was stunned. _Did I really do that? I should have known better, it is my fault._ Inuyasha's ears drooped in regret and sorrow.

"What do we do now?" he asked quietly. "I…I want to make things right."

"Then go find him child" Kaede said more gently, she had not wanted to hurt the hanyou but she could not let things go on as they had. The others were miserable and being overly tired they were going to make a mistake and get themselves killed. They were already getting wounded more often.

Inuyasha looked up to Kaede and nodded. He would tell the girls and Shippo and they would leave after everyone had had a chance to rest. Kaede told him as they returned to the hut that most likely the bond between Miroku and the child had had a chance to settle. She was sure that Miroku, having seen Sesshoumaru not harm the child, would be able to leave. She thought the only reason he hadn't returned so far was because he was afraid the others would be too angry with him and not accept him back.

Inuyasha had had to agree, yesterday he would have sent the monk packing but now, knowing what he knew, he wanted his friend back and he intended to get him. _How much could he want to stay with my brother, I'm sure he's miserable._ Inuyasha was determined to make it happen and telling the girls what they were going to do made them just about jump with joy.

"I'm sorry I hit you Inuyasha", apologized Sango

"I deserved it" replied Inuyasha shrugging his shoulders. "Let's just get some rest and then go get Miroku."

What Kaede had told Inuyasha had been true but not just because of the reasons she had stated. Yumi was content with everyone in her little family; she would stay with any of them happily without making them feel like they had to protect her all the time. Miroku too seeing the love Sesshoumaru had for her and, knowing he would protect her with his life, was able to break away from her enough that her demon instincts were not overpowering his senses. If he had wanted to leave, he could have. He would have missed the little girl as she would have missed him but he would not have felt compelled to be with her as he had that day on the road.

The thing was he didn't want to leave. He missed his friends, yes, and some days he was very quiet thinking about them and wondering how they were. It was then that Sesshoumaru would come and talk to him and help lift him out of his funk. Yumi and Rin were always a joy and most days Miroku was his normal happy go lucky self.

He had realized that he was in love with Sesshoumaru and, being able to tell the stoic demons moods, knew that Sesshoumaru loved him as well and that was the real reason he would not leave. He had found true happiness and was not willing to let it go for anyone or anything. He was more content and relaxed than he had been in years, no longer worrying about bringing a cursed child into the world to continue his grandfather's revenge. He knew without a doubt that Sesshoumaru would avenge him if the need arose and keep their two little girls safe.

Miroku never would have thought that he would be in love with a male, let along a male demon lord but there it was and he wasn't ashamed. He enjoyed getting to know Sesshoumaru and came to find out that the outwardly cold demon had a wicked sense of humour.

The two of them had gone to a village to get some supplies and had left the girls in the care of Jaken. Miroku could have gone by himself but Sesshoumaru wanted to keep him close. They were returning with Sesshoumaru in the lead, Miroku behind, looking ahead not thinking any thing in particular when he noticed Sesshoumaru's ass.

_Very nice_ smiled Miroku to himself watching as it waved in front of his eyes. He did what he normally would do in that situation and brought his hand up giving Sesshoumaru's right cheek a good grope.

Sesshoumaru had stopped dead and Miroku thought he was in huge trouble until the white haired demon turned and snaked his hand behind Miroku, returning the gesture with a smirk at the astounded look on Miroku's face.

That had started a huge make out session that only stopped because they were so close to a main path and were wary of others passing by seeing them.

Ever since then Miroku had to be observant where Sesshoumaru was because, at times when he was not expecting it, he was likely to get groped. _Guess I know what all those women felt like, must be karma_.

Miroku and Sesshoumaru were following the trail of Naraku having left Yumi and Rin in the care of Jaken until they returned. As they walked on Sesshoumaru stopped at a crossroads, gently sniffing. "Lost the scent?" asked Miroku.

"Yes. Can you feel his aura any longer?"

"Not anymore but we were close, that's the strongest his aura's been in awhile. He's had to have erected a barrier."

"Humm" returned Sesshoumaru, "he must have known we were near." As Sesshoumaru continued to sniff, he caught another scent. _Inuyasha, he must be following the scent as well._

"What is it?" asked Miroku looking around. He had seen the small narrowing of Sesshoumaru's eyes and the muscles tighten slightly in his jaw. He turned to look in the direction Sesshoumaru's eyes had turned to and saw his friends walking towards them.

Kagome, Sango and Shippo ran to him laughing and crying and hugging him warmly, Inuyasha stood back from the happy group, not sure if he should join them.

Miroku looked up to him with a huge smile. "Hello Inuyasha, how are you?"

"Keh, fine" he said beginning to smile himself. He found it odd that Miroku was still with Sesshoumaru.

"We're you following Naraku's scent as well?" asked Miroku walking over to Inuyasha; the others stood back wanting to give the two boys a chance to talk.

Sesshoumaru was feeling concern as he watched Miroku greet his friends. _Will he go with them now?_ He asked himself, fear beginning to bloom in his heart.

"Yeah, I caught his scent earlier but can't find it now." He stood silent for a moment then said "We came looking for you too Miroku."

Miroku didn't know what to say, he waited to see if Inuyasha would say more.

"We want you to come back with us Miroku." Sango said instead walking towards him as Inuyasha was still standing there, his pride not allowing him to ask Miroku back. "We all miss you, we need you."

Miroku felt like he was in between a rock and a hard place. As much as he wanted to be with his friends, he wanted to be with Sesshoumaru more and he was trying to figure out how to tell them he was going to continue on with the demon lord without causing hard feelings between them all when Sesshoumaru spoke up.

"We all seek Naraku, perhaps we should work together to increase our chances for success." He had only offered to combine their groups as he could feel the tension coming off Miroku and was afraid he would choose to leave him.

Inuyasha looked at his older brother with surprise and suspicion. "You'd join with us? Why now when in the past you always wanted to kill us?"

"You would not?" Sesshoumaru asked getting angry, not answering Inuyasha's second question.

"Thank you Lord Sesshoumaru" said Kagome bowing low hoping to ease the tension she could feel flowing off Sesshoumaru in waves. "Inuyasha, I think we should take him up on his offer, we could find Naraku faster if Sesshoumaru helps us." She said softly in his ear putting her hand on his arm to prevent him from pulling Tetsusaiga.

Miroku was surprised that Sesshoumaru would offer such a thing. He knew that he harboured ill feelings towards Inuyasha and was not sure this was such a good idea but he did not want to offend Sesshoumaru by going against him.

"That is a sound plan, Inuyasha" he said standing by Sesshoumaru. He then took a deep breath and added, "You all need to know that what ever you decide I am staying with Sesshoumaru."

They all looked at him in shock, including Sesshoumaru. Inuyasha did not miss that Miroku had called his brother by name and frowned in confusion.

"Miroku" said Sango softly not believing what she was hearing.

Sesshoumaru, saying nothing, turned and started to walk away secretly happy at what his monk had just said. Miroku looked to his friends and hoping they would take the hint and come, turned and followed Sesshoumaru. Nobody moved for a moment then Sango started to walk after them, Shippo and Kirara hopping one on each shoulder going with her.

"Sango" cried Kagome taking a step towards her friend. She stopped and looked back at Inuyasha not wanting to leave him. "Inuyasha" she whispered "Please, we can't leave our friends." Kagome had tears appearing in her eyes.

"Feh", Inuyasha sighed scowling hard, but he started to walk in the direction his brother and friends had gone, Kagome beside him.


	10. Getting To Know You

Chapter 10: Getting To Know You

Rin was overjoyed to have another child her age to play with. As much as she enjoyed spending time with Miroku and Yumi, Miroku was a little too old and Yumi was a little too young to play the things she enjoyed. Shippo was happy too, he was in the same boat as Rin except he had a grouchy half demon that enjoyed any excuse to bonk him on the head. After talking together for three minutes, they were fast friends.

The rest settled in fairly quickly after a first few awkward moments. Sesshoumaru didn't exactly bubble over with welcome and enthusiasm but he wasn't trying to kill anyone and just went off and sat by himself, watching the group.

The two that had the grouchiest faces were Jaken and Inuyasha, their moods almost exactly matching each others. Miroku had to try very hard not to smile at the two almost identical faces they were making.

He was worried about Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru. Anything could set the two of them off at each others throats and he was glad when the two of them kept out of each other's way by unsaid mutual agreement. He hoped that they would get a chance to know each other and perhaps come together as brothers.

Miroku went over to Sesshoumaru and sitting beside him said quietly "Thank you, Sesshoumaru, for letting my friends stay."

Sesshoumaru said nothing but gave him a soft look, glad that he had made Miroku happy. Sango watched them curious as to how Miroku seemed to get along with the cold demon lord.

Yumi awoke from her nap and looked around curiously at the new guests. She recognized Inuyasha, or at least his hair and giggling made a grab for it when he leaned over to look at his little niece.

"She's grown" said Inuyasha to Miroku as he tried to keep his hair from her hands.

"Yeah, Sesshoumaru says demon pups have large growth spurts." Miroku was pretty proud of the little pup; she had already managed to learn to crawl and had kept him, Sesshoumaru and Jaken busy trying to keep her out of trouble. Inuyasha again noticed that Miroku had called Sesshoumaru by name.

"You guys seem to be pretty friendly" Inuyasha said motioning to his brother. The half demon widened his eyes in surprise when he saw a blush cross Miroku's cheeks.

"I just got a chance to get to know him a bit, he's not bad Inuyasha; you should try to talk to him. You may find you have more in common than you know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Inuyasha again surprised by his friend.

"I'll let him tell you" Miroku said cryptically before placing Yumi in Inuyasha's arms and walking over to Sango and Kagome.

This was the third time in a few minutes that Miroku had surprised him. Inuyasha didn't think Miroku would let him hold Yumi especially with no one around to watch him. He felt happy that Miroku had forgiven him for what he had done and the hanyou smiled down at the little girl this time letting her grab a fistful of hair and pull hard as she laughed.

Sesshoumaru watched as Inuyasha held Yumi. At first he was ready to pounce but then seeing that Miroku didn't seem worried and the pup was happy he relaxed and watched the two interact._ She is his blood kin; he wouldn't hurt her_ he reassured himself.

He was surprised at how well his brother held the child and how pleasant his face looked when he wasn't scowling or angry. He still felt some jealousy toward his half brother, especially about the sword, but since telling Miroku of his past he had let much of the hatred go. He realized that his brother had done nothing to him other than having been born and that fate had dealt with both of them unfairly.

Inuyasha looked up feeling eyes on him and gazed into the eyes of his brother. He was surprised, yet again, to see that Sesshoumaru was not looking at him with hate in his eyes but rather with curiosity. _Maybe I should talk to him_ he thought, _Miroku sees something, what I don't know, but maybe I should find out._

They were all working together to collect the shards and with the two groups now together, they had little trouble defeating the demons that had the pieces of the jewel. Sesshoumaru was impressed with Inuyasha's control of the Tetsusaiga and he noticed that Inuyasha had been trying to copy some of his own moves. The hanyou was, of course, no where near as graceful and artful as the lithe demon lord but he had the basics.

Sesshoumaru felt some pride in his brother's attempts and thought that maybe he would try and give him some training. He now no longer coveted the sword, Miroku again helping him to let go of that last vestige of anger, but the brothers had yet to really talk with each other.

When Sesshoumaru thought of all the help Miroku had given him he could not believe the luck in having this wonderful man in his life. Miroku had known that Sesshoumaru was galled about the Tetsusaiga being in the hands of his half demon brother. He had followed Sesshoumaru one evening just after the two groups had joined together to talk to him about it.

"Did you ever think your father had a plan when he gave you the Tenseiga and Inuyasha the Tetsusaiga?"

Sesshoumaru had been in a bad mood and replied angrily "I should have received the stronger sword, I was eldest and his heir."

"Sesshoumaru, you do not give the Tenseiga enough credit. It is the sword of life, to have the power to give life is an awesome thing. Do not devalue it. It is far too easy to give death."

Sesshoumaru had not thought of it that way and sat, a bit stunned that this human brought something to his attention that he should have known. It was humbling to say the least.

Miroku then told him how the Tetsusaiga held back Inuyasha's demon side and how his younger brother was no better than a beast when he transformed, killing anyone without care or thought or honour. After that Sesshoumaru no longer cast envious looks towards Inuyasha and the sword

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha had gradually developed a peace between them much to the relief of the others and mostly thanks to Miroku who had gently hinted that Sesshoumaru and his brother should get to know each other better. They began to talk civilly to each other and there were no longer any tense stare downs.

The group had just stopped for lunch by a nice waterfall with a pool at the bottom of it. The area around the falls was grassy and the day warm. Rin and Shippo were happily splashing in the pool as Miroku kept watch feeding Yumi on the bank. Sango and Kagome were preparing the food, chatting and laughing.

Sesshoumaru went off a bit from the group and began to practice his forms, aware that his brother had followed him. He pretended not to notice.

Inuyasha watched as his brother moved from fighting stance to fighting stance, fluidly and gracefully, wishing he could move as well as that. Sesshoumaru still moving and spinning said "Join me"

Inuyasha hesitated at first, unsure of Sesshoumaru's motives until the demon lord teased him by saying "Unless you don't feel you can keep up with me."

"I can keep up with anything you do" said Inuyasha huffily approaching his brother. He stood facing him, watching intently, trying to copy Sesshoumaru's moves.

"Keep your elbow up" said Sesshoumaru as he reached forward and gave Inuyasha a push.

Inuyasha frowned and tried to push Sesshoumaru back but was blocked as his brother put his arm up and swept Inuyasha's hand to the side.

Sesshoumaru again went back to the first stance and moving quickly pushed Inuyasha again. "I told you to keep your elbow up" he said smirking.

Inuyasha was beginning to get annoyed and again tried to push Sesshoumaru who just blocked him once more.

The next time Sesshoumaru tried to push him Inuyasha put his elbow up and blocked the move surprising himself.

"Better" said Sesshoumaru.

They continued like that until the girls called them for lunch. Inuyasha was slightly out of breath when they returned to the falls. He was feeling confused but glad that Sesshoumaru seemed to want to help him rather than kill him. _Maybe Miroku's right; maybe he's not so bad,_ thought Inuyasha, Sesshoumaru was thinking the same thing as he went and sat by Miroku.


	11. Love Revealed and Other Secrets

Warning! Shounen Ai and Yaoi ahead.

Chapter 11: Love Revealed And Other Secrets

Sesshoumaru and Miroku had decided to keep their relationship discrete as they were unsure of how the others would react. They had very little time to be together and it was beginning to play havoc on Sesshoumaru's demon nerves. He was beginning to get edgy and the others began to notice.

Sango had been watching the handsome demon and noticed that he kept himself fairly close to Miroku, using any pretence to be near him. Sango was hugely confused and talked to Kagome about it one day.

"Have you noticed that Sesshoumaru is acting weird?" she asked her friend.

"No, not really, what do you mean?" returned Kagome.

"He's always around Miroku, I can't figure out why," Sango explained, her voice relaying her confusion.

"They were together for awhile before we joined up with them, maybe they're friends," said Kagome surprised that Sesshoumaru would be friends with anybody. "Have you asked Miroku about it?"

"No, I'm not sure if he notices, you know he can be dense at times," Sango stated thinking of all the times she had given him hints that she would have liked to have been more than friends.

The girls moved on to other topics putting Sesshoumaru and Miroku out of their minds for the time being.

Sesshoumaru watched as Miroku left the hut they were now staying at. They had gathered another jewel shard and decided to stop at a village and stock up on provisions before starting out again. Sesshoumaru had not wanted to stay in the village proper so they had managed to find a small abandoned hut on the outskirts close to the forest.

Miroku gave Sesshoumaru a meaningful look before heading out into the forest. A few minutes later, Sesshoumaru passed Yumi to Kagome and walked out following the same path Miroku had taken. Kagome and Sango looked at each other with raised eyebrows.

"Inuyasha can you watch the kids for awhile?" asked Kagome.

"I guess so, why?"

"Ummm, Sango and I have to go do something," she said, trying to keep Inuyasha from wanting to know more.

She felt like she was being too nosy but was so curious as to what was going on with Sesshoumaru and Miroku that she tucked her conscious away for the moment.

"What?" he asked, looking at her curiously.

"It's just girl things," answered Sango for Kagome who was starting to get nervous.

"Feh, it's always girl things," grouched Inuyasha. He didn't really want to baby sit three runts and a toad but was sure he didn't want to know what these girl things were either.

"Thanks, Inuyasha," Kagome smiled, grabbing Sango's hand and dragging her out of the hut.

"Feh," Inuyasha huffed, holding a squirming Yumi as she tried to crawl away after the two girls.

In the forest Sesshoumaru and Miroku were sharing a deep and passionate kiss. Miroku's face was flushed and he was moaning as Sesshoumaru's tongue played against his while his demon's claws stroked down his back and over Miroku's hips.

"Sesshoumaru, that feels so good," he moaned out causing the demon to almost rip the monk's clothes off and take him right then.

It had been days since they had had any intimate contact and they were both overly excited by what they were doing now. So involved were they with each other that they did not notice two sets of wide, shocked eyes watching them from the bushes.

Kagome looked at Sango, Sango looked at Kagome and they both tried to leave, Kagome stepping back onto a branch. There was a loud crack.

Sesshoumaru's head snapped up and he looked directly to where the girls were hiding. "We have company," he said to Miroku who was confused as to why Sesshoumaru had stopped kissing him so suddenly.

Sesshoumaru moved incredibly fast and, before the girls could turn and run, he was before them, staring at them with his cool yellow eyes. "What are you doing here?"

"We could ask you the same thing," spit out Sango. She was beginning to get upset at what she had just witnessed. _I thought Miroku liked me? What's going on?_

"That is none of your concern," Sesshoumaru intoned coolly, narrowing his eyes. He knew that Sango had feelings for Miroku and had been somewhat jealous when she spent time with his monk. Miroku had always calmed his fears saying that he didn't have those feelings for her.

Miroku ran over fixing his robes as he went to cover the one shoulder that had been exposed. "I'm sorry Sango," he apologized truthfully, "you shouldn't have found out this way but I'm in love with Sesshoumaru."

Both girls looked in shock at what he had just said. One with hurt feelings, the other thinking, h_ow hot is that!_

Kagome realized that she wasn't needed here. "I'm going to head back, ummm, maybe you two should talk" she said to Sango and Miroku.

Sesshoumaru and Sango were glaring at each other and Kagome tried again. "Sesshoumaru, let's go and let them talk, they need to sort things out."

Sesshoumaru looked to Miroku who nodded, then turned and walked briskly away with Kagome scrambling to keep up.

"How could you say that, Miroku? I don't understand" Sango was beginning to cry.

"I'm sorry Sango, I didn't want to lead you on but it just happened, I do love him," he almost whispered as he held her hands. Miroku was feeling miserable knowing that he had caused her pain but he did not want to lie to her either.

"Does he love you?" she asked wiping her tears when Miroku let her hands go.

"Yes or at least I think so."

"You don't know?" she asked incredulously.

"He hasn't come right out and said so, but I believe he does."

Sango was silent for a moment, thinking. _Am I really that upset? I have things I need to do in my life before thinking about settling down, I as much told Miroku that. I have to save my brother, I want to continue to be a demon slayer. How could I do that as a wife and mother?_

Sango came to realize that perhaps it was just the idea that Miroku liked her and would want to be with her that was so attractive but to actually follow through on that was not what she really wanted.

Miroku was getting nervous waiting for her to say something. "I would understand if you never wanted to speak to me again," he said quietly.

"No I still want to be friends; I want you to be happy, Miroku. Are you sure you are happy with Sesshoumaru?"

"Yes, I am, I can't explain it. I always thought of women but since being with him I have no interest in them in that way," he told her in wonderment.

"Then I'm happy for you but what about Inuyasha? I don't know if he's going to take this that well," she worried.

"I'll have to cross that bridge when I come to it." Miroku was worried as well about Inuyasha. He didn't want to put a wedge between the brothers especially since they seemed to be getting along very well at the moment. Miroku and Sango made their way back to the hut. Both glad they had cleared the air.

"Sesshoumaru!" yelled out Kagome, trying to catch up. "Lord Sesshoumaru, please my lord, wait!" Sesshoumaru stopped. Kagome rarely called him by his honorific, something that galled him to no end, so because she had and because he knew what she wanted to ask, he stopped.

"Lord Sesshoumaru," panted Kagome when she finally caught up to his back. "Do you…do you love Miroku?" she asked timidly. She had to know, Miroku was her friend and she did not want to see him hurt. She was having a hard time believing what was happening.

"Not that it's any of your business, but yes, I do," he answered, still a bit put out about the whole thing. He was really enjoying that kiss and they always seemed to be getting interrupted by the others. It was making him crazy.

Kagome stood looking at Sesshoumaru's back in wonderment. When Sesshoumaru didn't hear anything from her he said, "You disapprove."

"No, actually, where I'm from, it's not uncommon for two guys to be together, it's just…just..."

"Just what?" he asked, looking straight ahead.

"Well, Miroku, he's human. I thought you didn't like humans."

"I like that human," he returned then asked, "Where are you from?"

"Err, ha ha, well, you know," she stammered

_I don't know that's why I'm asking,_ he thought as he rolled his eyes but decided to let the matter drop. Instead he stated, "I will tell my brother."

"Yes, of course," replied Kagome.

She was glad it was Sesshoumaru telling him and not her, although she would love to be around when he was told just to see his face. She looked back to where Sango and Miroku were probably still talking as Sesshoumaru continued forward again. _I hope Sango will be okay,_ she thought before again running to catch up to Sesshoumaru.

By the time Sango and Miroku had returned to the hut, Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha were missing. "He's gone to tell him," Kagome told Miroku before going to Sango to make sure she was okay.

Miroku went over to where Jaken was; he was trying to get Rin and Shippo to stop trying to teach Yumi to walk. "It's bad enough she can crawl, stop that!" he cried as Rin held Yumi up on her feet, Yumi was trying to bounce up and down holding Rin's hands but was in danger of falling flat on her face when Miroku reached down and picked her up.

"Now that's enough you two, poor uncle Jaken is going to drop dead from worry," Miroku laughed teasing the imp.

"I wasn't worried, why would I worry?" he squawked back, secretly glad that Miroku had come to his aid. _I'm too old to be dealing with three wild kids,_ he thought his eyes spinning in their sockets. He looked to Miroku's retreating back with wide eyes when he realized that he had called him uncle.

Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha had gone to a field; Sesshoumaru had taken him there on the pretence of doing more training. They were both holding wooden staffs made from branches and were trying to knock each other off balance with them. At the moment, Sesshoumaru was faring much better than Inuyasha who fell to his rump for the fifth time.

"You need to concentrate more, you get too angry, it dulls your judgement," said Sesshoumaru, waiting for Inuyasha to rise.

"I'm not angry!" shouted Inuyasha. Sesshoumaru just raised an eyebrow and looked at his fuming brother.

He again came at Sesshoumaru fast and hard, bringing his staff down from above. Inuyasha leapt into the air over Sesshoumaru's staff as his demon brother tried to trip him but it did him no good. Sesshoumaru flipped backwards and crouched low as Inuyasha, having failed to connect with his attack, landed. Sesshoumaru swung out his staff before his brother could react, connecting with Inuyasha's ankles and knocked him over yet again.

"Damn it! You're cheating!" cursed out Inuyasha. He absolutely hated losing to his brother.

"That was a perfectly legal move," said Sesshoumaru evenly. "I told you to control your emotions and pay attention to where I'm going, not to where I am."

Inuyasha took a deep breath to clear his head and then started circling around Sesshoumaru, waiting for an opening. He saw him start to lean his weight to his left foot so Inuyasha swung out and was rewarded when he connected with his brother's leg; not enough to knock him completely over but enough to make him wobble before he caught himself and leapt out of the way. Inuyasha had a huge grin on his face. Sesshoumaru stood and bowed to Inuyasha indicating the training session was over.

"How come you want to stop all of a sudden when I'm winning," grumbled Inuyasha as he returned the bow. He badly wanted to knock Sesshoumaru onto his butt.

"I need to talk to you about something," Sesshoumaru said, tucking his staff under his arm.

Inuyasha noticed that the day was receding and that soon it would be dusk.

_Damn, I didn't realize we had been out here that long, tonight is the new moon._ "Can it wait until tomorrow?" asked Inuyasha nervously, starting to go back towards the forest. He wanted to get away and hide for the night. Sesshoumaru didn't know he turned human, and, although they had been getting along very well as of late, Inuyasha was not ready to share that secret yet.

"No I wish to speak to you now," Sesshoumaru stated firmly wondering why Inuyasha was acting and smelling so nervous all of a sudden. He looked around quickly, getting on his guard wondering what Inuyasha could be sensing that he was not.

"Look, I'm just tired, I'll talk to you tomorrow," Inuyasha said as he began to run towards the forest.

Sesshoumaru was slightly shocked, and then he began to get angry. _How dare he run from me!_ Sesshoumaru, who was much quicker than Inuyasha, was soon right in front of his younger brother, not allowing him to pass.

"Get out of the way, Sesshoumaru, I need to go."

"You will not tell me what to do, I am lord here." Sesshoumaru's eyes thinned to slits, his hand began to curl into a fist.

Inuyasha's scent spiked in frustration and slightly in fear. He had to get away or he was going to change right here in front of his brother. They both unconsciously slipped into fighting stances.

Inuyasha, remembering his brother's advice, tried to calm his emotions while Sesshoumaru, who had forgotten that same advice, got angrier.

Sesshoumaru slashed out with his claw but Inuyasha saw it coming and flipped back out of the way, doing a smooth spin that would have made Sesshoumaru proud if he hadn't been so angry. As he spun to the right seeing that his brother was coming at him to the left, he dodged Sesshoumaru again and leapt into the trees.

Sesshoumaru hadn't even come close to laying a hand on him. Just as he landed in the upper branches of the tree and was about to leap to another, the sun dipped below the horizon and Inuyasha could feel himself change. _Damn, not now,_ he moaned to himself but it was too late, his hair was black, he couldn't see as well, his sense of smell was just about nil, and his hearing was less than half of what it had been.

He began to slip from the tree no longer able to hang on as well without his claws when Sesshoumaru leapt up beside him and caught him.

"Inuyasha, you're human," stated Sesshoumaru with widened eyes. He sniffed him to make sure it was his brother and to put the new scent into his memory.

"Cut it out Sesshoumaru." Inuyasha was nervous, he was afraid Sesshoumaru would throw him from the tree and he gripped a bit tighter to his brother's arm.

Sesshoumaru dropped down gracefully out of the tree, still holding Inuyasha, and placed him on the ground.

"How is this possible?" he asked Inuyasha.

Blushing mightily he told the confused demon, "Because I'm only half demon I turn into a human once a month during the phase of the new moon. I lose my demon abilities until the morning." He hoped his brother would not be disgusted with him.

Sesshoumaru stood staring at his brother realizing that, since he knew a secret about Inuyasha, he should tell him one of his own. "I want to make Miroku my mate," he said steadily.

"What! What did you just say?" Inuyasha asked his eyes popping wide as he sat down with a thump on the grass.

"I said…."

"I heard what you said but why…how…when?"

Sesshoumaru sat beside his now human brother and started to laugh. It was a genuine hearty laugh, his voice deep and melodic. Inuyasha had never heard such a wonderful noise. It was the kind of laugh that made you want to join in, so he did.

They both sat there laughing like fools at the absurdity of life for a few minutes when Inuyasha wondered to himself, _what the hell am I laughing at,_ and began to gain control over himself.

Sesshoumaru was a different matter. Every time he looked over at Inuyasha he started to laugh all over again, tears beginning to run down his face.

"What the hell is so funny?" asked Inuyasha, who was quickly going back to his grumpy self.

"The look on your face," giggled Sesshoumaru uncharacteristically. He was finding the whole situation just too damned hilarious. "Looks like we both have secrets," he snickered, trying to lasso in his unleashed emotions. "Does it bother you?" he asked when he had finally settled down.

"No, what do I care who you mate with, but Miroku?" Inuyasha was not shocked by the fact that his brother wanted to mate with a male. It was done all the time in royal clans to keep the lands within the families grasp until there were suitable females to mate with. He was shocked that Sesshoumaru would choose a human. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined it.

"You do not feel he is worthy?" asked Sesshoumaru curiously

"Sesshoumaru, in case you haven't noticed he's human," said Inuyasha, looking at his brother in wonder.

"Kagome said the same thing," Sesshoumaru replied

"Kagome knows?" Inuyasha was just getting surprise after surprise here.

"She and Sango caught us."

"Caught you? Caught you doing…I don't want to know," Inuyasha groaned.

"You look nice as a human," said Sesshoumaru out of the blue

Inuyasha was now pretty floored and just had no reply to that at all.

Sesshoumaru tried very hard not to break out into peals of laughter again at the look on Inuyasha's face. He had to look away. _Maybe now we don't have to sneak around all the time,_ he thought hopefully.

"I assume the others know of your condition." When Inuyasha nodded his assent Sesshoumaru said, "Let's head back then." The two brothers rose and made their way back to the hut.


	12. Finally Alone

Warning! Strong yaoi content

Chapter 12: Finally Alone

Back at the hut, the group was settling in. Sesshoumaru and Miroku opted to stay out in the forest for some privacy. Now that everyone knew about them they were sure to be left alone. Sango and Kagome especially decided to keep their noses in the hut.

Jaken was again playing nanny and not doing a very good job of it. Yumi was getting upset because she felt he wasn't holding her properly and was fussing and angrily trying to bite him.

Inuyasha came over and took the child from him giving him a bop on the head as he walked away. Yumi settled in, holding a strand of Inuyasha's hair as she fell asleep.

Shippo and Rin were having a marvellous time coloring with Shippo's crayons. They were now working on one of the back walls of the hut having run out of paper a little while ago. Rin was giggling at something Shippo had said to her when she sneezed.

"It's too dusty back there Rin, come out," Jaken ordered, thinking his lord would kill him when he got back if the child was dirty. They had already bathed earlier and he did not want to take her down to the springs again.

She sneezed a couple of more times, trying to ignore the toad but then decided maybe she would come out. Shippo followed, rubbing his eyes as they had begun to water and itch. They went over to where Inuyasha had put Yumi in her blankets and snuggled up in their own close beside her.

Sesshoumaru and Miroku had found a pretty glade to spend the night. Sesshoumaru spread out the blankets he had brought on the ground and sat down with Miroku. "I'm glad they know, we don't have to worry about getting interrupted any more," he grinned at Miroku.

Miroku just leaned over and gave Sesshoumaru a kiss, marvelling at the taste of the lovely demon. Sesshoumaru returned the kiss, pulling Miroku's body close to his so they could feel the heat from each other.

They parted breathing a bit harder. Sesshoumaru's demon instincts wanted very badly to mate with Miroku now. The more controlled Sesshoumaru wanted to take his time to get and receive as much pleasure as possible. He also did not want to hurt his human partner. He would have to keep a tight control on his demonic side.

Miroku, after catching his breath, began to slowly undress Sesshoumaru as he kissed, nibbled and licked his neck. Sesshoumaru lay back and let Miroku explore his body with his lips and tongue.

Miroku moved down to his chest and was gratified by the groans of pleasure that Sesshoumaru made when he nipped at his nipples. He spent time on each one, lovingly licking and sucking one and then the other. He continued downward, over the flat, hard stomach, pulling at the sash at Sesshoumaru's pants. That out of the way he looked at the huge appendage that was before him. They had never gone so far before but Miroku wanted to give Sesshoumaru pleasure and he wasn't about to stop for anything.

Sesshoumaru moaned loudly, gripping the dark haired head as Miroku's tongue reached out and licked the tip of his manhood. Miroku tasted the salty flavor and, deciding he liked it, went back for more, this time taking Sesshoumaru into his mouth, twirling his tongue around the tip and then licking down his shaft.

Sesshoumaru was panting hard, he felt as if his whole body was on fire. He moaned lowly in his throat as Miroku began to move his head up and down, pushing his own body up to meet Miroku's downward movements.

Miroku, trying to make the feeling last, moved slowly creating a vacuum with his mouth to increase the pressure. Sesshoumaru began to try and thrust harder up into Miroku's mouth, a hint for the monk to move faster, but Miroku held his hips down as he slowly and tortuously pulled back and, hesitating for a moment, pushed down hard causing a yelp of pleasure to come from Sesshoumaru.

Miroku repeated the movement again and again hearing Sesshoumaru moan out each time. He then began to move faster, sucking harder and causing Sesshoumaru's head to swim in ecstasy. In a few moments he came hard, calling Miroku's name, filling his mouth with his seed, Miroku swallowing fast to take it all in.

Miroku was pleased that he had given Sesshoumaru such pleasure. Although he hadn't ever been with a man before, he had enough experience to know what felt good and he smirked at Sesshoumaru as he came down from his euphoria.

"Like that did you?" he asked cockily

"My turn," Sesshoumaru purred, with a feral grin plastered on his face.

He flipped Miroku over onto his back and before the monk could blink, he was lying naked under the pale body of his lover. Sesshoumaru kissed Miroku's mouth, nibbling lightly on his bottom lip with his fangs. He moved off the naked human enough so he could let his hand travel over the monk's body, feeling with his fingers the muscles quiver and hearing Miroku's moans of pleasure. He teased the rosy nipples, making them hard, pinching lightly with his claws. He then ran his claws up and down Miroku's side and stomach, drawing little circles around his nipples and navel as his tongue swirled hot and wet in his monk's mouth.

Miroku thought he would go crazy with the teasing Sesshoumaru was giving him. He was hard and aching, he wanted Sesshoumaru to touch him badly but the demon lord wasn't done yet with his torture. He brought his lips and fangs to Miroku's neck, nibbling and nipping along his pulse line. He then moved to his chest attacking the buds of his nipples teasing them with his tongue and teeth. Going slowly, he began to move down lower and lower but skipped the area Miroku most wanted him to get to.

Miroku groaned out his disappointment. "Sesshoumaru, please, I can't stand it," he gasped out.

Sesshoumaru smirked and ignored his pleas. He put his knees between Miroku's legs and pushed them apart, leaning over he nipped and bit gently at the inside of Miroku's thighs, holding his thrusting body down with his hand.

Miroku was feeling so much pleasure, he wondered momentarily if perhaps he had died and gone to hentai heaven. The feeling of Sesshoumaru's teeth was driving him mad and he began to beg and plead for the demon lord to give him release.

Sesshoumaru was again hard and knew it was time to push a little further. He had not planned on mating fully this soon, but he could no longer hold himself back. He took hold of Miroku's aching member and began to stroke his hand up and down watching the face of his monk as Miroku gasped and hitched under his fingers. Pre cum began to leak out of Miroku and Sesshoumaru wet his fingers with it. He stopped with his hand and again leaned over this time putting Miroku in his mouth as he pushed a slick finger into the small opening.

Miroku gasped as his lover's finger entered, he was surprised but unhurt, Sesshoumaru's tongue and mouth gripping his manhood made a lovely distraction and he was soon overcome with the pleasure he was receiving. Sesshoumaru added a second finger, pushing in deeply hitting a certain area inside him, making him writhe and scream in pleasure as he grazed his claws over that spot again and again. He stopped his oral ministrations, taking his hand and moving it onto Miroku's organ. He placed his own blood engorged member against Miroku's opening after lubricating it with his own juices that were leaking out of his manhood.

"I will be gentle" he said to the moaning monk.

Miroku couldn't believe what was about to happen but he wanted it very badly, he wanted to feel his lover inside him, especially if he hit that area that his fingers had found. He nodded to Sesshoumaru, his body hot and his face flushed.

Sesshoumaru pushed in gently, going slow so Miroku could get used to the intrusion. Only once did Miroku give a small cry of pain as he felt himself stretch to accommodate his demon lover.

Sesshoumaru began to again stroke Miroku's shaft, taking his mind off the pain and putting it back on the pleasurable feelings instead.

When he was all the way in he waited a moment and then slowly drew back, pushing back in again smoothly as Miroku groaned and panted under him, now only feeling total bliss. He matched his hand movements to his thrusting, the feeling of Miroku's tight muscles around him making him want to cum, but he kept going slowly to extend the feelings for both of them.

Soon he felt Miroku begin to thrust up towards him, wanting Sesshoumaru to push harder. Sesshoumaru complied, groaning out at the friction he felt when Miroku clamped hotly down on him. Sesshoumaru pumped harder on Miroku's organ, pushing himself in deeper and more firmly hitting Miroku's prostrate.

Miroku went nuts; he came between them, the feeling of bliss was more that he could stand. Sesshoumaru soon followed orgasming a second time as he felt Miroku's muscles grip him tightly in spasms, both groaning loudly.

Sesshoumaru stayed inside Miroku for a moment, waiting to come down from his release and then slid out and lay back on the blanket, pulling Miroku to him.

"Like that did you?" he asked as Miroku had done to him, laying his head on top of Miroku's and inhaling his scent.

Miroku laughed and replied, "Loved it," his voice breathy and whispery. They soon feel asleep, content and satisfied, finally.


	13. The Pack

Chapter 13: The Pack

Inuyasha smelled the sex scent coming off Miroku and Sesshoumaru as they returned to the old hut in the morning. _Smells like they've mated, _Inuyasha thought to himself trying not to let his imagination get carried away. He greeted them as they came up the path. "Hey," he called out looking at the monk's mussed hair while he noticed that not one strand was out of place on his brothers head.

"Good morning, Inuyasha," replied Miroku happily. He was still a bit flushed from the morning session he had enjoyed with Sesshoumaru not that long ago.

"My lord, come quick, something is wrong!" Jaken yelled, running out of the hut.

The three boys looked quickly at each other and then followed the imp inside to see what the problem was. They saw Kagome and Sango sitting by Shippo, Rin and Yumi. The baby was fussing and crying, her little cheeks flushed red. Shippo and Rin were moaning; the human girl drenched in sweat while the fox child was complaining that his stomach hurt.

"They're all sick," Kagome said worriedly, holding and rocking Yumi while trying to comfort Shippo at the same time.

Sango was wiping the sweat off Rin's face, shaking her gently to keep her awake so she would not slip into unconsciousness.

"How did this happen?" Sesshoumaru asked, calm on the outside but very worried on the inside, taking over for the slayer as Miroku took Yumi from the young miko.

"I don't know, they were fine last night," Kagome replied, fear beginning to show in her voice. She was very concerned that all three kids were sick at the same time and, as far as she knew, demons didn't get sick so her worry increased.

"Let's get back to Kaede's, she will be able to help," Miroku stated, noticing the tell tale body signals that Sesshoumaru was going to hit the panic button soon.

Sesshoumaru didn't need to be told twice as he formed his cloud beneath his feet holding the now unconscious form of Rin. Miroku hopped on behind him, holding Yumi who was now whimpering painfully, trying to curl into a ball. Sango, with a crying Shippo, rode on Kirara while Jaken held tightly to her tail. Inuyasha carried Kagome on his back, leaping over the ground as the whole group moved quickly to Kaede's village.

Sesshoumaru put Rin on the futon, she had stopped breathing and he was frantic. He could no longer feel or hear her heart; he felt his own heart had stopped as well. He pulled the Tenseiga from his side, it did not pulse but he was in such a hurry to bring her back he didn't notice. He soon realized that he could not see the little death imps, his breath hitched in his throat; the Tenseiga was not going to work for him this time.

"Miroku, the Tenseiga, it's not working," he cried out. Inuyasha had never heard such misery before; his ears drooped in sympathy for his brother. _He really did love her._

"Move," Kagome commanded sternly, as she pushed the demon lord out of the way.

He barely noticed her audacity; he was in such a state of shock and grief.

Kagome tilted the little girls head back, pinched her nose and began to breathe for her. After a few breaths she put her hands, which were clasped together, on the small chest and pushed.

"What are you doing?" growled out Sesshoumaru. He thought she was trying to hurt his Rin and he made a grab to stop her. Inuyasha and Miroku grabbed him before he had a chance to kill Kagome.

"It's called CPR, I'm trying to help," she told him, again bringing her mouth down to the child's and pushing air into her lungs. _Come on Rin, Come on!_ The young teen cried out in her mind. Two more breaths and she felt Rin start to cough. _Thank you, Kami!_ Kagome was just about in tears at the relief she felt.

Rin was still unconscious but back with the living. Sesshoumaru was astonished at what Kagome had just done. He would never think she was weak or a stupid bitch of his brother's again. Tears were running down his cheeks and, for once, he didn't care who saw his loss of control.

Shippo and Yumi were not in quite as bad as shape as Rin. Since they were both demons their own healing abilities were trying to fight off the sickness. It was stopping them from dying but not making them better.

Kaede noticed a greenish dust like substance on the children.

"Where did they get this?" she asked. She had recognized it as a very poisonous fungus. At first no one knew then Jaken remembered telling the kids to get out of the back corner of the hut because of the dust. That had to be where it had come from.

"Yumi wasn't back there," said Sango.

"Yes," replied Inuyasha, "But Rin and Shippo slept with her and it must have transferred to her from them."

Kaede thought she could help the two demon children but she was unsure of Rin.

"She's so far gone, I don't know if my medicine will work for her." Kaede spoke softly, afraid of what Sesshoumaru would do if she died.

"Maybe mine will," offered Kagome. "I'll take Rin through the well to my era."

Miroku's heart rose in hope. As Inuyasha ran with Kagome and Rin to the well, Miroku explained to his mate that the miko girl was from the future and that she was going to take his adopted daughter to a place called a hospital where they would be able to do more for her than they could here, that they may be able to save her life.

That was the worst night for the whole group. Shippo and Yumi were barely conscious most of the time and Kaede kept giving them her medicine to counter act the poison. The others did anything the older woman told them to do to help their pups; Sesshoumaru holding them and comforting the two children most of the night.

By morning Shippo and Yumi were on the mend, their breathing and heart rates back to normal. They slept the rest of the day which Kaede said would be good for them so they could regain their strength.

Sesshoumaru was still trying to figure out why the Tenseiga did not work.

"Didn't you tell me that is how she came to be with you?" asked Miroku. "You brought her back once already by the sword, maybe the sword can only be used once on a person."

"Maybe," Sesshoumaru returned.

He had never been so frightened or felt so helpless in his life when the sword hadn't worked for him. He was so grateful to Kagome that he knew he could never repay her for what she had done.

Rin woke up, blinking her eyes in the overly bright room. "Where…where's Sesshoumaru-sama?" the small girl said, fear beginning to edge into her voice.

"Rin, thank goodness," Kagome exclaimed, coming closer to the bed so Rin could see her. "You're in my time. Once you're better we'll go see your Sesshoumaru."

"You're time?" her fear dissipating, curiosity coming to the fore instead.

"I'm from the future; the well is like a portal. I brought you here so you could get better. We were all very worried about you. Do you want anything? Some water or something to eat?"

"Maybe a drink," the little girl answered, yawning hugely.

Kagome left her bedside, going to the table and pouring the child a drink of water. She was happy to see that some of the color was back in Rin's face. "Here," she said, giving the girl her drink. "Take a nap and when you get up I'll show you around."

"You won't leave?" Rin asked a bit worried to be by herself.

"No. I'll be right here when you wake up." Kagome smiled at the small brown haired child as she passed back her cup and snuggled into the blankets, going right to sleep.

"Why is it taking so long?" Sesshoumaru asked his brother when Rin and Kagome still hadn't returned after a day.

"I'm sure everything is fine, Kagome would have been back to tell us if something had gone wrong."

Sesshoumaru grunted, watching Shippo as he sat in the sun resting. Miroku was holding Yumi beside him. The demon lord could tell by the infants scent that she was well on the mend, the sweaty, sickly smell almost gone.

Inuyasha watched his brother, he could see the toll this had taken on him. His eyes were sunken because of lack of sleep and worry. "It's going to be okay," he tried to convince his brother and himself.

"I miss her," the demon sighed softly.

"We all do, but I have faith in Kagome, she'll see to it that Rin's okay." He tried to give Sesshoumaru a cheerful smile and even succeeded.

Sesshoumaru said nothing but he felt better at his brother's positive attitude and words.

Three worrisome days later Kagome came back through the well. Rin would recover. She was still in this hospital place but would be able to come back next week. In fact, she was having a wonderful time playing with all the interesting toys of the future and had captured the hearts of every nurse and doctor. When they were alone, Sesshoumaru had dropped to the ground on his knees and wept with relief with Miroku holding him in his arms.

When Rin returned they, again, went after the shards. Sesshoumaru carried the little girl around more than usual and she was fairly well spoiled by everyone in the group, much to the consternation of Jaken. She brought back toys for Yumi and Shippo and candy for herself and Shippo, Yumi being too young to have it. She chatted constantly to Sesshoumaru and the other's telling them all the things that Kagome had shown her and everything that she had done. Some of the group had a hard time believing the small child when she told them about the carriage that didn't need horses to pull it and how fast it went.

As they continued on their quest, the two brothers realized that their group had turned into so much more than just a bunch of individuals. They were a pack, a family. Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha sharing the responsibilities of alpha, finally able to be the brothers they were meant to be.

All of them had their place in the pack and they grew strong in their abilities as a whole. They would complete the Shikon Jewel and rid the world of Naraku. Their three pups would grow and become strong members of the pack themselves and there would be more pups to appear in the future and continue on the legacy of the Pack of the West.

**THE END?**

I'd like to take a moment to thank a few folks. Most importantly I give a huge arigatou to L.M. Frick for being my beta. Her help made my story so much better (and more understandable). Thank you so much, loads of love to you and I look forward to continuing to work with you on future stories 

I'd also like to thank the people that took the time to write a review or comment to me. I'm always appreciative of your guys input and it's nice to know when someone enjoys what you're doing. So big hugs to:

Chibirin8

Mysteriously moi

Chibi hikari

Pyropixie

And Badgerwolf

All these guys gave comments on mediaminer:

Davinci

Xandbabe

Kikwhorehater

And Shinna

I'm working on a few new stories, so I hope you'll enjoy the next one "Love's Lessons", coming soon to a fan fiction site near you LOL. Thanks again to everyone, I hope I haven't missed anyone but I thank you too if I did LOL, you guys are great!


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